Only A Dream?
by A Reviewing Reader
Summary: What if the whole mystery never really happened? What if Nina never went to Anubis House? What would become of Fabina? How far will she go to figure out what's been going on? Read & review, please!
1. Waking Up

Hey guys! This is my first Fanfic, so try not to be too harsh with the flames if you hate it so much. But if you LIKE it, please review! This takes place RIGHT after Nina and Fabian get elected Prom King and Queen.

(And sorry it's kinda short. I'll try and make it longer if people think I should have another chapter!)

Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 1: Waking Up<p>

**~Nina's POV~**

I was dancing with Fabian, his arms around my waist, and my hands at the back of his neck. I was blushing like crazy, partially because I had just been elected Prom Queen, and partially because I was dancing on stage with the Prom King. Fabian Rutter.

"Well, _that_ was embarrassing," I said.

"Yeah ... Very," Fabian added, just as embarrassed as me.

He looked at me for a second. "Nina, you look-" he started, but I interrupted.

"I look ridiculous," I added, rolling my eyes and tossing my messy dirty blonde hair over my shoulder.

Fabian looked into my eyes. "I was going to say beautiful," he whispered.

I couldn't believe it. I stared at him, blinking in disbelief that he had just said that. He said I was _beautiful_. Me.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Fabian asked.

I was still stunned by his compliment. "Did you just call me beautiful?"

He stared down at his feet, then returned his gaze to mine. "Yeah."

I gave him a small laugh, and blushed some more. To make the scene even more embarrassing, there was a slow song playing. Great. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alfie tapping Amber to get her attention. They both looked at me and Fabian.

I returned my eyes to Fabian. He got an excited look to his eyes and asked, "So why did you go back down to the cellar?"

I shook my head at him and he gave me a confused smile. I was finally going to do it. I was going to do what everyone at the house had hoped we would do from the moment they realized we liked each other. I felt courage stir inside of me, and I said my best line yet, "All that can wait. This can't."

I closed my eyes, and leaned toward Fabian. He met me in the middle, and then we kissed in front of the entire student body.

Of course, since all of Anubis House expected us to kiss eventually, so they started the cheering that ran through the crowd. Whistles and squeals from the girls reached my ears, and lots of clapping that was almost deafening.

I broke away from Fabian to look at them. I was as red as a tomato. At the edge of my vision, I saw Fabian's eyes still closed and his lips half-parted. I don't think he realized I had stopped kissing him.

We both started laughing, my hands fell off of his neck and down his tuxedo front. I locked eyes with Amber, who just smiled at me and I grinned back. The music changed to an upbeat song, the name I couldn't remember, and my best friend turned to dance with her date, Alfie.

I turned toward Fabian once more, and put my hands round his neck again. He smiled and curled his arms around my waist.

About twenty minutes later, the time spent swaying and talking, I asked, "Do you think we can get off of the stage now?"

Fabian chuckled, and he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Let's just go now. It's weird being up here so long."

I unhooked my arms from around his neck and he took his hands from around my waist. He grabbed my hand and we walked offstage to meet our excited house. It was hard to tell who was talking at me or Fabian, since everyone exclaimed their happiness that Fabian and I were finally a couple.

Amber squealed: "I am so happy! You two kissed! And it was so romantic and perfect! Eeep!"

Alfie applauded: "Nice job, Fabian! It was about time you kissed her!"

Mara was ecstatic: "Alfie, _Nina_ kissed _Fabian_, not the other way around. Besides that, I am just as happy as Amber right now!"

Patricia smirked: "Yeah, about time, too. It took long enough!"

Jerome announced: "You owe me ten, Mick!"

I stared at him. "You two _bet_ we would get together?"

Jerome smiled smugly. "I bet that you and Fabian would get together at the Prom, and Mick bet that Fabian would pluck up the courage to ask you out before Prom. So I win."

Patricia smacked him on the shoulder, but she didn't seem too mad that Mick and Jerome had bet on me and Fabian's relationship.

I rolled my eyes at the Jerome, but Fabian squeezed my hand. We started walking across the grass toward Anubis House. By the sound of grass being rustled, I could tell the other members of the house were following.

Fabian took me up to my room and at the door, he pulled me into a hug. His voice whispered in my ear, "Nina, what did you say . . . down in the cellar . . . when, we were putting the cup back together?"

I knew exactly what he was talking about. When he told everyone he had thrown away the real elixir, that Rufus Zeno wasn't really immortal, and that one of the Seven Acolytes (meaning everyone in the house) was not going to die. In the heat of the moment, I had exclaimed that I loved Fabian and then hugged him.

"Um, what do you mean?" Playing dumb may just tell me if he loved me as much as I loved him.

"I-" Fabian started. Then he pulled away from me, his hands on my shoulders. When I looked into those brown eyes, I swear I saw tinges of the hurt he felt. But his smile deceived any of the feelings he showed in his eyes. "Never mind."

"Fabe, wait." I grabbed his hand as he started walking away. He turned to look at me. "You know I can tell when your feelings are hurt. I'm one of your closest friends."

He looked down, his face red. "I just, wanted to know what you said. I mean, if it was what I thought you said, I mean . . . um . . ." Fabian kept stumbling over his words and I finally put a finger to his lips.

"Relax," I said. I removed my finger and took his hand. "I said, 'I love you,' right? Well, I do."

His expression instantly brightened. "Y-You do?" I nodded. "Nina, I love you."

My face formed a soft smile. "I love you, too, Fabe."

And he gave me one of those cheesy-yet-romantic goodnight kisses. It was slow, sweet, and gentle.

As soon as he pulled away, I smiled and said, "Good night, Fabian."

"Good night, Nina." I opened the door, and stepped inside me and Amber's room. Fabian gave my hand one last squeeze before it slipped through my grasp.

I got ready for bed, then heard Amber talking from outside the door. She said, "Thanks Alfie. I did _not_ want to be stuck in bed during Prom! You helped me get out of bed and into my beautiful dress, so, thank you!" I heard Alfie sigh, and knew Amber had kissed him.

Amber waltzed into our room, and before the door shut, I saw Alfie staring dreamily at her. She got into a pair of pink pajamas, and snuggled under the covers with her pink sleeping mask covering her eyes.

"I had the absolute _best_ time at Prom. Alfie is so sweet! I have no idea why I spent all of my time going after Mick," she scoffed. "I must have been delusional or something, because Alfie is funny, cute, smart-" Amber sat up for a minute, putting a finger to her chin in deep thought, "-well, he's a little smart. Smarter than Mick, I think. And he is just . . . Ahhh." Amber sighed heavily and fell back against the mound of pillows that took up much of her bed.

I smiled. "Glad you had fun, Ambs. See you in the morning."

"Nins, shopping tomorrow, okay?" she asked.

I was glad Amber couldn't see me rolling my eyes, but I did sigh a little. "Okay, Amber. Night."

"Night."

In a few minutes, I heard Amber's breathing deepen, so I knew she was asleep. I laid in my bed, and my eyes started to feel heavy. I knew sleep was on the way. I was about to succumb to dreamland when a soft vibration from my bedside table jolted me awake. I looked at my phone sitting there, and it said: _1 New Msg_, so I opened the phone. It was Fabian.

_Hey, r u up?_

I replied, _Yep. Y r u?_

_Can't sleep._

_Want to come up into the attic?_ I asked.

I could just imagine Fabe shaking his head. _Nins, just go 2 sleep. I may b able 2 knowing that ur ok._

I smiled, and felt so unworthy. Fabian was so sweet. I did not deserve him. _Thx. I don't deserve som1 as gr8 as u._

_I'm the lucky 1,_ he replied.

A second later. _I love u, Nina._

_I love u 2, Fabian,_ I replied.

I slid my phone shut and laid my head down once more. I fell into a calm sleep, knowing Fabian loved me and that everything would be okay.

The next morning, I woke up in my bed, with no Amber searching for clothes in her closet, no smell of Trudy cooking breakfast, no birds chirping outside. I heard the traffic zoom by on a three-lane road, passerby chatting, and the smell of lilac around me.

I opened my eyes. And found myself in my old room in America.

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><p>Ok that was Chapter 1. Please review! And if you hate it andor think its awful, just tell me. Thanks! (:


	2. A New House

A/N and Disclaimer: Odin House, all of it's characters and dear, sweet Michael do not belong to me! They belong to **Dante Alighieri1308**!

I also do not own House of Anubis, if I did, I would have filmed Season 2 during Season 1 so we wouldn't have to wait until AUGUST 8TH for new episodes! ARRGH...

Chapter 2: A New House

I stared around me. There was my white suitcase with paint splatters of black and neon green. There was that American flag sticker that I had ripped off once I had gotten off of the train.

I looked down at my clothes. They were the dark blue tee and black fleece pajama pants I always wore at night.

The covers on my bed were peach, with pale red sheets. The ones we only used when this room became the guest bedroom. I looked around my room. It was pretty bare. There were photos of Gran and I at the fair, one where we were eating sushi at a Japanese restaurant, both which were on the bureau sitting in front of my bed.

I got up, opened the door of the room and stumbled downstairs toward the kitchen, where the smell of waffles was wafting through the air.

I saw my Gran, standing next to a skillet on the stovetop, frying bacon and eggs. Her sandy hair identical to mine was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore her usual button-down blouse, slacks, and ballet flats.

"Gran?" I asked tentatively, looking towards her from around the corner.

She raised her head, but did not look at me. "Is that my darling Nina? Off to her fancy English boarding school right after breakfast?" Wait a minute, I'm going back to Anubis House already? What day does school start? She turned around, and her blue eyes glinted mischievously. She opened her arms, "Give your old Gran a hug, Nina!"

I walked into her hug, and held on tight. Gran. I hadn't seen her for almost a year. It was too long. She smelled of cinnamon, with hints of lilac off of the clothes she wore. That's what the whole house smelled like, a mix of lilac-flavored cinnamon.

"I can't wait to go, Gran. But I'm gonna miss you so much. England was awful without you last year-"

"Last year, Nina? You've never been to England before. What are you talking about?"

"Oh, right, um ... it was a _dream_ I had last night. Yeah, it was just a crazy dream. A very realistic one ..." I said. My hopes fell like an anvil. I had wanted her to say "Yes, I'll miss you two. It was too quiet last year!"

"Nina, are you okay? You look glum." She raised my chin with her finger, and gave me a small, sad smile. "I know you were disappointed this last year because you didn't get into England, but it was not your fault. It was just a spacing issue.

"But there is a space for you now, Nina. Okay? So don't be so sad anymore." I gave her a weak smile as my hopes dropped further, if that was possible.

I really had never gone to England before? No . . . that's impossible. I _have_ been there before. I met Fabian, we solved the biggest mystery Anubis house has ever heard of with the help of the Sibuna gang, and then danced together at prom.

"Um, Gran, before we go, I think I left some things upstairs . . . I'll be right back." I dashed upstairs, into my room, and rummaged through my suitcase, searching for the Eye of Horus. Anything that would tell me I _had_ been at Anubis House last year.

As I practically dumped the entire suitcase's contents out, there was nothing I had found. Absolutely nothing.

I wanted to bawl right there, on the floor in the middle of the room, but I knew I had to go to the airport to make my flight.

I wiped the few tears that had involuntarily fallen onto my cheeks. I looked into the mirror, and saw my eyes were not very pink, not enough to be that noticeable. I stuffed all of the things back into my suitcase, zipped it up, and then dragged it downstairs.

"Nina, did you find what you were looking for?" Gran asked me as I came down.

I nodded stiffly, and went to the door. I needed to get to England. Fast.

The plan ride was the same as the first time I had ridden on it. Through the baggage claim, and finally to the train station, I moved numbly through each place, barely aware of where I walked.

I looked around me as the train pulled away from the station. I was the only one there, yet again. I walked through the back of the station, towards the main road.

A small black cab shuffled along, and the old cab driver I had met last year came out to greet me. "Nina Martin?"

"Yes! That's me."

"Oh, American, eh?" he asked.

"Yeah, how did you know? Was it the accent?"

"No, the flag on your trunk." He nodded to the American flag that I had still forgotten was on the suitcase.

"Oh, right. Jeez, I forgot to take that off. Let me get that." I ripped the flag off, crumbled it up, and stuffed it in my satchel.

I got into the cab, and everything happened like it had before. Gran texted me, and me and cab driver made small talk.

"Okay, Nina, we're here," the cabbie said.

"Wow," I said, looking out the window. Even though I know I had been here last year, the school's grandeur and antiqueness still surprised me.

"Big place, where'd you need to be?" asked the cabbie.

"Um . . ." I looked down at the folder I had received when I got accepted. "It says I'm in the, uh, House of Anu-" I stopped. I reread the name once. Twice. Again.

"No. That's _impossible_," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that, love? Anubis, did you say?"

"No, ah, Odin . . . House." I was so surprised and hurt. This can't be real, it must be a mistake! I belong in _Anubis_ House!

"Okay, I'll take your case around," he said as he stopped the car, got out, and grabbed my suitcase from the trunk. I scanned the school buildings quickly, and saw Fabian, Joy, and Patricia. All three of them were talking quietly, and then Joy started to laugh so hard, she nearly toppled over, but Fabian caught her by the arm.

A wave of jealousy spread through me.

"Nina?" someone asked. I spun around, and I saw the cab driver looking at me. I tried to compose my expression, because at the moment my eyes were full of blazing anger at the sight of Fabian with Joy.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Do you want me to show you Odin House?"

"Lead the way," I said.

As I followed the cab driver, my eyes strayed to the old path towards Anubis House. I saw the house behind a bunch of thin trees, and a part of me ached to go there.

I averted my eyes from my old home; the memories were too painful to think about. Knowing that I never really met Fabian, that I never talked to Amber, or met anyone in Anubis House . . . Knowing it was just my imagination.

Soon, we got to Odin House, which was on the exact opposite side of campus that Anubis House was on. It was actually quite pretty. Compared to the side with the Egyptian Houses, on this side was more tranquil and calm, with a more-nature-filled scene.

There was a long, gravel pathway that had three houses on each side. At the end was a cul-de-sac formation that had a large fountain in the center of it, and a mosaic with pictures of people and animals circled the fountain. Behind the fountain was the largest of all the seven houses, with gorgeous flowers and elegant statues around it.

"Huh," I said. It was really beautiful here. The fountain was the most stunning of the entire cul-de-sac, with a hammer positioned in the center with an eye engraved on it and mermaids blowing water out of their hands and mouths, their expressions happy as if they were blowing dandelion seeds in the wind.

I remembered the cab driver, handed him the money he needed, and started to walk towards the fountain with my suitcase in hand.

I sat on the fountain's edge and ran my hand over the smooth stone. I looked into the clear, flowing water that sat in the fountain's basin, and saw various coins at the bottom-though there were mainly pennies resting on the bottom. I fished around my bag for a lost penny, but there was nothing. I searched my pockets, but still found nothing. I sighed, letting the air come out slowly.

"Need a penny?" asked a boy behind me in an American accent.

I turned my head, and saw a person about me age, holding up a shiny penny. He had light brown hair that matched his eyes, with a light tan and a Southern accent. He was grinning at me, with one eyebrow raised. I had a feeling he had just seen me searching for a coin to toss into the fountain.

"Ah, sure. Thanks," I said, feeling myself flush at the thought of him seeing my embarrassing scene to find a stupid penny.

He handed the copper coin to me, and sat on the edge of the fountain next to me. "Any wish in particular?"

I flipped the coin into the water, which created a small splash that sprayed me with a bit of water. As I wiped the water off of my face with the back of my hand, I avoided his eyes, and replied, if not a bit coyly, "It wouldn't be much of a wish if I told you, now would it?"

"Ah, true. Fine, then don't tell me." he retorted, though his tone implied that he was just teasing. "But, are you lost? You seem a bit confused around here."

"Yeah, I am. Do you know where Odin House is?" I asked, looking at him. I smiled sheepishly.

"Odin? I know exactly where it is, since I live there." He stood up, started to walk to the house at the end of the cul-de-sac, and I followed suit. Once we were in front of the large house, he gestured to it, saying, "Odin House. In all of its glory!"

I giggled involuntarily, and immediately clamped a hand over my mouth. No, you love _Fabian_. _Fabian Rutter_, I told myself. You can not fall for a guy at Odin!

I cleared my throat, and he looked at me quizzically. "Sorry, something in my throat, must have swallowed some dust or something . . ." I tried to recover my fumble, and added, "I'm Nina Martin, by the way," I said.

"I'm Michael Rizzo. Nice to meet you, Nina," he said, smiling. "Shall we meet the others?"

I nodded, trying to calm the sudden butterflies in my stomach. My only thought was, _I'm about to meet my housemates; this ought to be interesting._


	3. Meeting Everyone At Odin House

_Disclaimer: Yeah, sorry about no disclaimer first chapter! I was JUST figuring out how to __add chapters and everything . . . etc._

_-Anyways, I don't own House of Anubis, though I am starting to watch the original Dutch/Belgium series, and it's amazing! Nienke and Fabian have amazing chemistry. C:_

_-Second, the names of the characters are _**_Dante Alighieri1308_**_. Most of their personalities are mine, I'm kinda making it up as I go. So they are probably a bit OC, so sorry Dante!_

_-Third, I have an A/N at the bottom for reviewer replies! Thanks to all of you who read and reviewed this story! I feel touched. (:_

_Onto CHAPTER 3!_

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><p>Chapter 3-Meeting Everyone At Odin House<p>

Michael held the door open for me, and I walked through, seeing six other students milling around the hallway.

Three girls, and three other boys. One boy had dark red hair cut short, and ragged jeans, as if he was used to going camping or something. Another had an attempted bad boy look that just looked fake, though he did have a pretty good smile, which could make up for his "tragic fashion," as Amber would say. The last boy had no trouble pulling off the dark, mysterious persona: black hair and dark eyes that matched his clothes perfectly.

The first mentioned walked up to me and Michael and looked between us. "Who's this?"

"Nina Martin," I said. He shook my hand vigorously.

"I'm Alan Mars!" Alan said happily. He started to crack jokes that weren't really that funny, but I gave a false laugh for each of them. Already, I could tell he was similar to Alfie.

The next one to come up was the faux bad boy. "Hello, dear Nina. I am Anthony King II, but please call me Tony. Pleasure to meet you." He lifted my hand and kissed it lightly. I gave a slight smile, but slipped my hand quickly from his grasp. That was just a tad bit awkward.

The mysterious boy was up next, but he didn't bother to come greet me like the others: "Name's Mitchell Prescott, but I like the name Mitch. So don't call me 'Mitchell,' ever." His British accent was slurred, and the bossy attitude he flaunted reminded me vaguely of Patricia.

O-kay, I thought. Four down, three to go.

The three girls were equally as diverse in appearance as the boys were. One was blonde with bright blue eyes and an athletic air around her, as if everything she did she had to do with focus. To confirm my inquiry, she had a look of determination on her face, as if used to everything being under her control. Another girl had dark hair with rich chestnut skin, and didn't seem to care that I was here. The last girl was familiar in appearance, I think she was in my French class last year. What was her name? Charlotte? She pulled off the calm, relaxed type easily, with a loose blouse, light blue skinny jeans, casual sandals, and a braid down her back.

The first girl with the blonde hair was the opposite of Amber; that much I could tell just by her appearance up close. Around her neck was a short white towel, and a water bottle in one hand. With her free hand, she shook mine. "Sophia Evenstead. Nice to meet you. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go for my run." She dashed out the front door, her sneakers making a squeak with each step.

Next one up was just as uncaring as Mitch. She was still texting on her phone after Sophia left, and was paying attention to nothing but the message she was replying to.

"Tori? You gonna say hi?" Michael asked.

Tori glanced up at Michael, sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm Victoria Dicce, but I prefer Tori." She added, after a moment, "I'm the daughter of the Italian Ambassador to England, if my name seems familiar." Tori returned to texting on her phone.

The last girl smiled at me, giving Tori a "don't mind her" look. "Hey, I'm Charlotte. Nice to meet you, Nina." I got her name right! She was the friendliest of the girls, and I secretly hoped she was my roommate.

"Everyone! Supper!" a chipper feminine voice said from the kitchen. Suddenly, the smell of burnt food wafted around us.

"Ugh! Debbie! You told us you took a cooking class last summer!" Tori complained, putting a sleeve to her nose to try and block the smell out.

Coming towards us was a woman about forty with an apron tied around her waist, and a "How-to-Cook" book in one hand.

"Tori, I know. I did attend that meeting, but it didn't really help. I already knew everything they told me. I'm trying to make that lasagna in this book, but . . . it's not turning out well." A loud beeping came right on cue, and a trail of smoke started to form.

The woman, apparently Debbie, rushed back into the kitchen and tried to put out the smoking food.

Tori rolled her eyes and put her phone away into her black Coach purse that hung on her arm. As she took her hand out of the bag, I noticed she had replaced it with a silver nail file. She started to file her nails, even though they were already perfect.

Debbie came back into the room, looking disappointed. "Hey guys. Um, er, I kind of burned the lasagna's cheese. Now, it's too black to eat . . ."

Everyone groaned.

Alan whined, "Debbie! Now what are we supposed to eat?"

Sophia added, coming through the door with sweat dripping down her face, "And I need that protein for running!"

Alan looked at her quizzically. "What the-? You _know_, Debbie never adds any meat to the lasagna. You know Char's a vegetarian. Where's the protein?"

Sophia gave him a look like he was slow. "Alan, _cheese_ is protein."

"Liar, there's no meat in cheese!"

They got into a big argument over why cheese was a protein food versus whether it was just a dairy product.

"Don't listen to them, Nina. They love to argue," Michael said to me. He gave me a half-smile. "Want me to show you to your room?"

I nodded. "Sure."

I was about to grab my suitcase's handle, but Michael took it instead.

I smiled. "Thanks." He walked up the spiral stairs that had hammers engraved into the banister and I was following at his heels.

On the first door around the corner, he turned to me. I had to grab the wall to avoid smacking into him.

"Whoa, sorry, Nina! Should have warned you about that sharp turn." He steadied me, grabbing my arm. Then gestured to the dark brown door in between us. "Here's your room."

"Thanks, again, Michael." I took the suitcase from his hand, and my fingertips lightly brushed the top of his hand. His cheeks turned a little red.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that, sorry. Here." He relinquished it to me, and we switched sides: him by the stairs and me in the hall. "Um, okay, I'll . . . let you get settled, then," He said nervously. Michael took a step backward, slipping on the stairs and grabbed the railing for support.

I didn't want to, but I laughed at his blunder. I immediately covered my mouth and dropped my suitcase, then grabbed his free hand as he struggled to not fall down the staircase. "Michael! Are you okay?"

He finally regained his balance and stepped back onto the landing. "Yeah, thanks. Before I make a bigger idiot out of myself than I already am, I'm gonna go."

Michael hurried down the stairs with a quick "bye" muttered under his breath. I said "bye" back, but knew he didn't hear me.

I walked into my room with my suitcase and saw one side of the room completely bare, the other side with a bunch of pictures of summer-themed designs. Waves crashing on the shore of breath-taking beaches, palm trees sunning themselves on little islands, and sand castles decorated with little shells and starfish. On the bed, there was a blue comforter with pale beige sheets and plush starfish creatures.

"Very summer-y," I muttered.

I started to set up my side of the room.

As soon as I went downstairs, the scent of cheese pizza filled the air.

Inside the dining room, two boxes of cheese pizzas were open on the long table, and everyone was digging in.

Michael smiled at me and called me over to a seat beside him. I sat down, and he handed me a slice of the cheesiest pizza I'd ever laid eyes on.

"Eat up, this pizza's the best in England!" he said, and took a large bite of his pizza.

I shrugged. _Why not?_ I thought, then bit into my slice. It _was_ delicious. "Mmm," I said, chewing.

"Good, right?" Charlotte asked.

I nodded and ate the entire slice within three minutes. I grabbed another. I had not realized how hungry I was until then.

Everyone started chatting and laughing, and I was included in the conversation. At least they were including me, and I wasn't being left out like I had in my first few days at Anubis House.

This would have to do . . . just for now.

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><p><em>Sorry about the lack of excitement. It was necessary to develop some relationships and for everyone to meet each other. I kind of wanted to add more, but thought this was a decent stopping point. Also, here's a spoiler:<em>

_Nina will meet everyone at Anubis House tomorrow! Don't worry, Fabian will be included! And yes, so will Joy . . . sadly. But everything is not what it seems, and Nina is determined to get to the bottom of it!_

_Now, to Reviewer Replies! (I know I should have done this before, but like I said before, just figured out how to add and edit chapters . . .) /:_

_-TICKLES3000: Hey, sorry for the confusion. Have you had a dream where you thought of something and it actually happened? That's kind of what happened, like she dreamt of this. But I'll get more into that later. And yes, it will be somewhat Fabina, but not much romance . . . sorry!_

_-Bubbles: You're review gave me an added touch to an idea that I had. Thanks for that, and for your review!_

_Dante Alighieri1308: Darn it! I should have sent this to you before I posted this . . . Sorry! Okay, so this chapter is probably OC for most of them. I'll message you my next chapter! Oh and thanks for mentioning my story in your last chapter!_

_-Love: You are so right! Ahh! You're psychic! How did you know I had a plan? But also thanks for your review, too. (:_

_-lyssap: Thanks for your review. And to answer your question: you'll see . . . Heheheh . . ._

Last A/N:

_I'm so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time. Last week I had a bunch of school work, while going through writer's block, and then I had many rehearsals for a performance this past Sunday! Anyways, Happy (week-late) Easter and Happy End-of-Passover! Hope everyone had an awesome time during the holidays!_

Expect an update no later than Sunday! Reviews make me happy! Now, press that review button at the bottom!

_~Ary_


	4. It's Nina, Right?

_I know, I know! I hate myself for making all of you faithful readers wait so long! Almost two WHOLE weeks! I'm so sorry! I couldn't update because of Writer's Block and homework . . . I don't know what else to say, so onto the disclaimer._

_Disclaimer:  
><em>_-The Odin House characters all belong to **Dante Alighieri1308**. (Again, this is not that good because I'm still working on the characters, their personalities and relationships.)  
><em>_-House of Anubis characters belong to Nick and Studio 100.  
><em>_-Reviewer replies along with an A/N are at the bottom!_

_ Now, what all of you have been waiting for . . . Chapter 4 of_ Only A Dream?

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><p>Chapter 4-"It's . . . Nina, right?"<p>

After our delicious pizza dinner, the entire house dispersed. Sophia went to her room to stretch; Alan and Michael were talking about the type of lamp that sat on the end table in the living room (or "parlor", as Tori snidely told me earlier), versus the one in their room for some unknown reason; Tori was being herself - filing her nails and checking her phone for the occasional text; Mitch was brooding over some book he was reading on the couch; which left me and Charlotte on clean-up duty in the kitchen.

"Nina, sorry your first day at Odin was on clean-up. I can handle this; go ahead and look around. I'll be fine-" Charlotte said, but I interrupted her.

"No, Charlotte, I want to help you. It wouldn't be fair of me to just leave with all of this work," I said. Charlotte smiled, and went back to scrubbing a plate with cheesy residue.

The front door opened, and Sophia's voice rang through the house, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Michael and Alan stopped bickering, addressed her and talked about their lamp argument.

"Are you serious? That is the _stupidest_ thing I have ever heard!"

I noticed Charlotte roll her eyes. "Don't listen to them. They have an argument at least once every day. You'll get used to it."

"Yeah, I know. Michael told me when I heard Sophia and Alan talking about cheese," I said. We both laughed at the sentence, it was such a random and stupid topic to argue about.

After a i finished drying the last dish and placed it into the cupboard, Charlotte announced, "Dishes. Done. Finally!"

We dried our hands on a towel and went into the living room with everyone else. Alan was trying to put his foot over his head, and out of the corner of his eye, Mitch watched curiously while still reading his book; Michael was playing on a PSP and from the sound of his muttering, losing the game miserably; Tori was talking to Sophia, talking about something animatedly.

Charlotte went over to join Sophia and Tori's conversation. Not wanting to help Alan dislocate a hip while attempting to be a contortionist and knowing that Tori wouldn't welcome me into the conversation, I went over to Michael, and sat on the arm of his chair.

"Hey," I said.

He glanced up and smiled at me. "Hey."

"What are you doing?" I grabbed his PSP and started fiddling with the controls. Soon, the little Mario fell off the edge of a cliff and the screen read: GAME OVER. Little Mario exclaimed, "Mamma Mia!"

"_Nice_, Nina," he said, taking it back and restarting the game.

"Can I try again?" I asked. He shook his head, and gave me a look. "Oh, c'mon, just tell me what to do."

He kept staring at me, probably judging how much I wanted to try, then said, "Fine."

So I started playing again, and survived one level. The whole time, Michael was saying, "No no, go right . . . You _jump_ there, not run! Oh you just lost the mushroom! . . . Stop! Don't do that, you're going to fall off the ledge!"

I laughed as I kept falling. I could not help it, I was just that pathetic at video games. "I'm sorry! How do you- Oh, that way! Ugh, no not that. I fell, how did I fall?"

As I lost my last life and Mario died yet again, I handed the PSP back to Michael. He just stared at me as if I had five eyes instead of two. "Have you _ever_ played a video game in your life?"

"Not . . . really," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Oh shut up!" I said, laughing. I pushed his shoulder playfully, and next thing I knew, we were into an avid conversation about our interests, likes, and dislikes. It seemed to last for so long, when suddenly a soft bell tinkled from the main hall.

Everyone's heads turned towards the noise. "Guys! Ten minutes until curfew. Get ready quick," chirped Debbie.

"Oh, crap. We have to get ready now, or else Debbie'll have a fit. Talk in the morning?" he asked.

"Definitely," I agreed, smiling. I stood up and stretched. "Night." I started to walk up the stairs and saw Michael walk to his room.

"Night." Then he closed the door behind him.

As I went into my room, Charlotte pounced on me. Literally. In my ear, she said, "So what's going on with you and Michael?"

"What?" I asked, my voice muffled because my face was pressed into the carpet.

"What is going on with you and him?"

"Nothing!" I exclaimed, a little louder than I should have. There was not anything going on. We were just being friends, talking and laughing. I was not flirting! I do not like Michael as more than a friend.

Charlotte got up and backed away. "Okay, sorry. No need to get huffy."

I sighed and straightened my shirt. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just suffering from jet lag, and I guess I get a little grouchy when I haven't slept for so long."

"Yeah, I know how that feels," she mused, turning over a picture frame in her hands. She put the frame back on her night stand, and looked over at my night stand. "Hey, who's that?"

Charlotte was pointing at Gran's picture, where she was smiling at the camera with her short sandy hair framing her face. I smiled at the memory, but then the smile faded as I felt the weight of homesickness crash down at me at that very moment.

"Um, it's my, er, Gran," I said.

"Aw, are you close?"

I nodded. "She brought me up." When my roommate just looked quizzically at me, I added, "Um, it's a long story, can I tell you in the morning?"

She nodded slowly, and said, "Sure."

I went to the bathroom, changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, washed my face of my light makeup, and then walked back to my room.

I snuggled into the covers, and burrowed my head in my pillows. As soon as my eyes fell closed, I heard Charlotte whisper, "Good night," and then I drifted off into a dazed sleep.

That night, I didn't get much sleep. I kept having nightmares about being in a room with no doors and Fabian was at one side and I was at the other. I tried running to him, but it seemed my feet were either stuck in place, or I was never able to catch onto him, as if I stood on a never-ending treadmill. Then, the floor would fall from my feet, I would fly through darkness, and wake up breathing heavily. After that, I would attempt to go back to sleep, but I ended up getting back up from another nightmare.

In the morning, I awoke in Odin House with little sleep. I was in my new room, with Charlotte sleeping soundly across the room. Weak sunlight tried shining through the curtains covering the windows, leaving faint lines of light seeping into the room. I had the urge to go back to bed, but remembered that I may have a nightmare, saw my alarm clock's time and decided to get up.

I sat up, swung my legs onto the floor and stretched out my arms in an attempt to wake myself up. Once my arms were no longer stiff from my sleep, I went into the bathroom to get dressed for the day.

Slipping on my white button-up blouse; my gray, woolen sweater we were all required to wear; and my pleated gray skirt, I was ready to go. Also, I pulled on my gray knee-high socks and black penny loafers.

I looked into the mirror at myself. Automatically, I grabbed two bobby pins and began to pin back my hair, but then said aloud, "Why not try something new?" Instead of pinning back my hair, I dug out my straightener from the very depths of my bag, plugged it in and started to elongate my hair.

After Charlotte came back from her shower, her hair still sopping wet, she looked at me doing my hair. She raised her eyebrows, and smiled. "New look, Nina?" I nodded, glancing at her in the mirror.

As soon as my hair was stock straight, I gave my new hairdo a one-over. It looked really nice, and the hair I usually pinned back fell in straight waves on each side of my face. It made my face more sharp and angular that gave me a more mysterious look.

I threw my maroon blazer bearing the school's crest over my arm, and slung my bag over my shoulder. Charlotte braided her hair down her back, donned her own jacket and said, "Ready?"

I nodded, and went downstairs. We both skipped breakfast, knowing Debbie could not cook eggs or toast without either being burned forms of themselves. It reminded me of Victor's mush breakfast that he had served us when Trudy had been fired last year. Or, in my dream, I suppose. The school vending machines had decent snacks in them that could substitute for an okay breakfast.

I walked into the corridor with Charlotte and looked down at the schedule I had gotten on the first day. The first period was French with Mrs. Andrews, just like last year when I was in Anubis House. I nearly broke into a run as I darted to the classroom, remembering its location because me and Fabian had walked to it a countless number of times. Fabian must be here! We had this class last year when I was . . . maybe here.

Lo and behold there he sat, at the front desk directly parallel to the teacher's desk was my dear Fabian. He was laughing, giving that adorable smile of his to a girl with dark brown hair who looked vaguely familiar.

She tossed her silky straight brown hair over her shoulder, turning towards him more, and I saw her face. That olive skin I would kill to have, the beautiful dark brown hair, with the chestnut-colored eyes . . .

It was _Joy_. She looked so exotic, even in a drab school uniform. The minimal, earth-tones makeup just made her look even prettier.

God! Why can't I be gorgeous like Joy and have Fabian as my boyfriend? Why did I never go to England, yet have distinct memories of it? Why?

I didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts because Fabian started to control his laughter, and tried to form a complete sentence. My eyes opened wide, and hurriedly scurried to a nearby desk so I could overhear the rest of their conversation.

From here, I could hear everything they were saying with clarity. "So Joy, do you want to have a picnic later? It's been ages since we talked," Fabian said energetically.

Joy smiled widely, looking excited. "Sure, Fabes. At lunch?" Fabian nodded, and they continued to talk.

"Let me guess, roast beef and swiss cheese sandwiches, yeah?" Fabian asked.

"Fabian! You remembered!" Joy said. She pushed his shoulder, giving him a surprised look. "I can't believe it!" She laughed.

Blood boiled under my skin, and jealousy was threatening to burst out. I wanted to strangle Joy for laughing flirtatiously with him. I was supposed to be in her place, laughing with Fabian over random little things; going on picnics to talk, walking to class early to hang out with each other.

They could not talk any longer, students started pouring into the room, and Joy and Fabian were forced to stop talking. Instead, they simply continued smiling at each other, swapping secret glances at each other and blushing.

Charlotte came to sit beside me, and caught my glances at the two lovebirds. She tapped my on the shoulder, which got me out of my reverie that involved me hitting Joy over the head numerous times.

"Nina, what's going on? You keep looking over at those two. Do you know them?" Charlotte asked.

Before I could answer, Mrs. Andrews called everyone's attention to the front. She called attendance and when she said my name, "Nina Martin?" I answered "here" and she added, "Ah, yes. Our new American student. Welcome to England Miss Martin."

Oh great, so now Mrs. Andrews doesn't know who I am? I thought to myself a bit bitterly. I just nodded at her with a smile.

Mrs. Andrews began her lesson, talking about future-tense words. I really tried to concentrate on the lesson. However, my eyes kept swerving to Fabian and Joy. They just looked so happy together, whispering secrets to each other.

Charlotte tapped me on the shoulder. I tore my eyes away from the saccharinely sweet couple. "Yes?" I whispered.

"Do you know those two?"

I bit my lip, trying to form a logical response. "Er, not really. Just people passing by, I saw them at the train station when I got here. They looked familiar," I said, propping my head in my hand as I attempted to focus on the French lesson.

It seems ages before the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. I packed my bag up quickly, with Charlotte shooting me confused looks, and hurried out of the class. The rest of the day passed slowly, as if time wanted to torture me more.

First realizing all of the amazing friends and adventures I had had with Anubis House was just in my imagination. Second, finding out I had never gone to England. Third, having Fabian and Joy flirt like a new couple. Why did fate hate me?

At the end of the each class, each teacher introduced themsevles and asked me if I had any questions. Every time, I gave them a polite "no" and left. When my last class of the day, Biology, ended, Mr. Sweet tugged me aside and asked me how I liked the school so far. "It's great. I loved every class, and everyone I've met so far are really nice."

I saw Joy walk out of the room with Patricia, their arms linked and chatting excitedly, probably about Joy and Fabian's picnic. In the corner of my eye, I saw a few stragglers in the classroom, still packing up their things. One of them was Fabian.

I bid Mr. Sweet goodbye and quietly followed Fabian to his locker. As he was his putting things away, I walked swiftly toward him and said, "Um, hi."

He peered at me. "Hey," he replied cautiously.

"D-do you remember me?" I asked hesitantly.

His dark blue eyes were full of curiosity as he studied me. Suddenly, understanding flooded his expression. My heart leapt; he remembered me!

"I do! You're in my French class, yeah?" I nodded and gave a fake smile, which I thought he would see right through, but he did not as he continued, "It's . . . Nina, right?"

"Yeah, um, I was wondering if I could borrow your notes from French. I didn't catch the last verb," I said quickly.

"Oh, sure." He rifled through his bag, protruding a navy blue notebook labeled "French", which he handed to me.

"Thanks. I'll give them back to you tomorrow," I said. I shoved the notebook into my bag and hurried away from him with a quick "bye" under my breath.

I hid around the corner, breathing in short, quick gasps. I tried stopping myself from crying any tears, but I could feel a few falling down my face without my control. I brushed a hand quickly across my face, wiping all of the moisture from my face. Once my face was dry, I looked around the corner.

Fabian was talking with Joy. She had an angry expression on her face, and was whispering hurriedly. I strained to hear her soft voice, "Fabes, do you know that girl?"

He shook his head, whispering back, "Joy, I barely know her. She's in our French class and my Biology class. Don't worry, nothing's coming between us, Joy."

Joy smiled. She quickly leaned forward, and quick as a whip, kissed Fabian on the cheek. He blushed and smiled at her, their hands linked together. My eyes widened, I silently gasped and pressed my back against the wall. "Fabian, you are the best," I heard Joy say.

Their footsteps retreated, and I heard a door open and close. Finally, I ran out the doors of the school back to Odin House, ignoring Charlotte, Michael, all of my housemates who wanted to comfort me, and into my room to cry.

* * *

><p><em>Again, not much excitement in this chapter. But I really didn't know what kind of "action" would be used in these scenes. As you could tell, half of the chapter was in Nina's thoughts, so it was . . . full of angst, for lake of any better words.<em>

_A/N: This was my longest chapter, the hardest to write, and probably the worst chapter so far. There was no good place to stop it. I was thinking of ending it at "It's . . . Nina, right?" but wanted to include how Joy is protective of her Fabian's relationship. She's just as insecure about her relationship with Fabian as Nina was at the end of Season 1.  
>It had a bad dialogue and word choice and everything, etc. I know it was bad, just try not to be so harsh with reviews.<em>

_Anyways, I'm going to Reviewer Replies. (Even though I only got 5 new ones, I'm just happy for reviews in the first place.)_

_-TICKLES3000: Hi, sorry about the OBVIOUS lack of romance of Fabina. Don't worry, that will come later on. Thanks for your review!_

_-Love: Thanks much! You are psychic and you're creeping me out . . . AH! Yeah, the characters in this chapter don't interact that much, just Nina talking to herself. And did you like Joy and "Fabes" interactions? I seriously hate those mushy-gushy couples that make you squirm inside from all of their giggling._

_-_Dante Alighieri1308_: I'm glad the characters were in character last chapter! (Wait, did that make sense? /:) But it was hard to tell in this chapter since it's mainly Nina thinking to herself. Thanks for the review!_

_-jerinaluver123: Sorry about the date mix-up. I looked on (which didn't help me at all because it only said, "There _will_ be a Season 2 called: "Sibuna Returns") and I couldn't find a date. Well, either way, I'll look for House of Anubis in June, July, and in August!_

_-hethuissibuna: No, probably no cussing. Well, maybe minor cussing during certain scenes. And thanks for your review!_

_-2funE4U: Thanks so much! I'm sorry it took me so long to update my story, Writer's Block is the worst, but homework is just as bad. School, why can't we have finals and then leave? Sigh, oh well. But again, thanks for the review._

_That's all for tonight, folks. It's way past midnight my time. Again, sorry for the wait. I will definitely try to update more often and get through this stupid Writer's Block. Expect an update . . . sometime later this week.  
>~Ary<em>

_P.S. Reviews are awesome. I don't care how many, just read and review please! (:_

_Oh, I can't forget this. _Dante Alighieri1308's story: "All is Fair In Love and War" has the characters of Odin House, so you should read it! But for it to make sense (because it is a sequel) you may want to read the first story, "What's a Guy to Do?" 2funE4U has a bunch of HoA stories, and so does allyouneedislove1797, or Love. Look at all of their stories, because they're pretty good.__


	5. He Knows

Yep, I know. Another week since I last updated. I'm such a consistent updater. /: I'm so sorry, all of you loyal fans who review every chapter!

Disclaimer: The characters of Odin House belong to **_Dante Alighieri1308. House of Anubis characters belong to Nick and Studio 100._**

Side-note: It's come to my attention that Mario is not a part of the PSP games, so sorry all of you video game lovers! Well, I'm one also, I just don't play with PSPs. I'm an XBOX, Wii, and DS person.

Reviewer Replies at the bottom!

Onto Chapter 5! (Chapter 6 will come soon! I swear! (:)

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><p>Chapter 5-He Knows<p>

After crying all of my tears out, I cleaned myself up and changed from my school uniform into a pink blouse, skinny jeans and sandals. One quick look in the vanity mirror and I saw my eyes were no longer red from crying, but slightly tinted pink, though the pink was unnoticeable if one did not look too close. I had covered the red blotches on my face with plenty of cover-up, so my appearance looked okay. Hopefully, no one would notice that I had been crying.

I walked downstairs, pasting a smile on my face, and entered the living room. Two heads snapped up at the sound of my footsteps. I did not need to look around to know who was looking at me. Michael and Charlotte. Immediately, they latched onto me.

Michael: "Nina, are you okay?"

Charlotte: "Why were you crying earlier?"

My smile faded, I looked down and bit my lip. "I-er, it was just a freak thing. I got really homesick, missing my Gran and everything. That's all."

"You _really_ expect us to believe that lie, Nina?" Charlotte asked, raising her eyebrows.

Michael added, "You are a really bad liar. Now tell us what happened."

I faked a smile. "Nothing happened! At the end of the day, I found this old charm my Gran gave me and remembered my home. Then, well you know how homesickness goes, I started to feel sad which led me to crying."

Charlotte gave me a scrutinizing look and I tried to keep my face emotion-free. She turned and sat back down on the couch. Michael did not give in so easily.

He grasped me by the shoulders and looked my in the eye. "Nina, you know you can tell us anything."

I raised my eyebrows. _Anything? Even if it sounds like I'm going crazy?_ a little voice asked in my head. I ignored it. Smiling at him, I nodded. "I will."

If only they could read my mind. If only they could understand what I was feeling. If only I didn't have to sound crazy when telling someone about my "dream." So many "ifs", so many questions, so little answers.

I leaned against the wall, looking at everyone. Nothing was out of the ordinary; Alan was attempting to sweet talk Tori, who blatantly ignored him; Mitch was sitting on the couch actually talking to Sophia; Tony was shooting Alan glares as Alan was flirting with Tori*; Michael was still passing me nervous glances; Charlotte was looking at a magazine.

The rest of the day went on okay, I chatted with Alan and Sophia, for once, and I got into a better mood. Dinner passed, Debbie actually cooked a decent meal of macaroni and cheese, and then I went to bed early, not wanting to get looks from Michael or Charlotte.

Days passed in a similar pattern. After the third week of school, I sat in my room, thinking to myself.

I needed answers to why I was here in Odin. In a split second, I decided what to do. I grabbed my jacket from the desk chair and walked out the door, calling over my shoulder, "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back before dark!"

As the door closed, I heard the grass rustle under my feet with each step I took. It reminded me of the End-of-Term Prom, when everyone of Anubis walked back to the house. I missed them so much; it was like an aching in my chest, as if I had left a part of myself with Anubis House, and my body longed for that part so it could be complete.

I trudged through the long green grass, but, apart from the quiet rustling of the trees from the light late-summer breeze, I heard another rustle of grass. I stopped, and the rustling continued. I turned around and saw Michael heading toward me.

_What? What was he doing here?_ my mind screamed. _I'm trying to go to Anubis to figure out what's going on, even though I'm new and I'm not supposed to know where that is. If I try to explain how I know about Anubis, you're going to think I'm crazy or delusional!_

I tried to keep these worried and panicked thoughts from showing in my expression. I wanted to look light-hearted, carefree, and surprised to see him. I think I pulled it off pretty well.

"Hi Michael!" I said. "Ah, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, just wanted to check up on you. Before you left, you looked a little stressed. I wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, catching his breath. Apparently he had ben running to meet me through the field of long grass.

A sudden realization hit me as I fully comprehended what he had said to me. _Aww, he ran here to check up on me_, a part of my mind sighed-the more romantic type. The other part-the more realistic side-said, _Great, now he's probably going to follow me to Anubis, realize I'm a nut, and never speak to me again._

Both sides agreed to think of a plan to veer Michael back to Odin House and not follow me to Anubis House. Now what would be a good excuse? I wanted alone time? No, that would hurt his feelings. I dropped something on the way back from school? No, he would come with me to search for it; Michael was just that kind of a sweet person.

The silence that had settled over us while I mulled over excuses was finally broken by Michael. "So, where are you going?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, just taking a walk through the scenery is all," I said with a nervous laugh.

"Mind if I join you?"

"No!" I exclaimed without thinking. I mentally face-palmed myself. "I mean, um, no thanks. I don't want to _dampen_ your day by walking around with me, watching the scenery."

Michael shook his head. "I don't care. My day's already dampened by school and the amount of homework they gave us, even though it's the third week!"

I laughed. "I know, right? It's like all Mrs. Andrews and Mr. Sweet thought about over summer was about our new assignments to give us."

"So, do you wanna take a walk?"

I thought for a second. Go for a walk and have a fun time? Or go to Anubis to see if anyone remembers me and make up a lie for Michael to leave? Hmm. Well I'm a terrible liar, so I doubted he would leave.

I didn't get to decide because Michael grabbed me by the arm and tugged me forward, towards the area where the cabs had been on the first day.

"Where are we going?" I asked, still stumbling behind him as I was being dragged.

"_You_ are going to have fun. And _I_ am going to be your helpful companion!" he said, glancing over his shoulder at me. He smiled mischievously.

"Wh-? What do you mean?"'

"I'm taking you to town. It's time you had a Camden Doughnut."

After we had hailed a cab/taxi/whatever it was called, Michael had taken us to London to a small shop called "Camden Cakes." Inside, it was small and cozy, with dark green flooring and several lights lining the ceiling, giving off a homey feeling. There were rows of counters, some with coffee and cups and sugar, a few with iced tea and regular hot tea, and many, many countertops were covered with delectable desserts.

There were all of the deserts one could imagine. Name it: crème brûlées, biscottis, pound cakes, jelly doughnuts-anything.

"Wow," I breathed, staring around the little shop.

"Mm hmm," Michael said, walking toward the first counter in front of us. "Now, you need to try a custard doughnut."

I went up to the counter as Michael ordered two custard doughnuts. The lady handed us the two pastries. He gave her the money, and I bit into the one on my right hand.

"Mm," I murmured. It was delicious. The sweet taste danced on my tongue, the doughnut bite literally melted in my mouth.

"Good, right?" Michael asked.

I nodded. This was exactly the cheering up I needed. I followed him to a small table that sat two, and we sat down.

When I was finished with the doughnut, Michael bought us some coffee, against my protests.

"No! I don't want you paying for everything!" I argued.

"Nina, I don't care. I'm paying for everything because I want to."

"Bu-" I tried.

"No. I'm paying for it. End of story," he said.

I took the coffee in my hand, and took a small sip. It tasted bitter, but had a lovely aftertaste. Pretty good coffee.

Michael looked me straight in the eye. "So, tell me about Anubis House."

I had taken another drink of coffee and nearly sprayed him with the coffee. Instead, I choked on the coffee and sputtered out a reply, "Wh- Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"How the hell do you know about that?"

"Charlotte told me you mumbled about it in your sleep." Oh God. I was talking in my sleep? Again? That's what happened at Anubis! Patricia caught me mumbling about the Black Bird, Corbier*, in Victor's office, which made me end up with a bunch of black feathers on my face as Patricia teased me about it.

"I talked in my sleep?" I asked, playing dumb.

He nodded. "So tell me about it."

I bit my lip. How much to tell him? I can't deny it. He knows about it now. I decided to start from the beginning. "It started with a dream."

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><p>A few notes . . .<p>

The asterisk (how is that spelled that way? It isn't spelled the way it is pronounced...) by Corbier's name is because I don't know how to spell it. It's either Corbier/Corbierre/Corbiére. I don't really know, so if any of you reviewers know, message me or write it in the review!

Reviewer Replies:

-SnowAllAround: First, thanks for your review! And I'm so glad you like my story, and I'm glad it's interesting. Thanks for liking Chapter Four (does that even make sense?), I thought it would turn out really badly.

-TICKLES3000: Aw, thanks! (: Yeah, I wish more people reviewed my story too, but hey! At least I have 30+ reviews! I think that's pretty good for my first story. And see? I updated! Just . . . very late.

-Dante Alighieri1308: I'm glad Charlotte has a different side in my story. In this, we don't see her talk much, but she does care about Nina. Even though in your story she was twisted by Joy-and I need to stop talking . . . Thanks for letting me know about the Mario not a part of PSP games. He was the first name I could come up with. Well, I suppose I could have used Sonic. But anyways, thanks for your review!

-Purple Sock Monkey: Thanks for your review! Yep, Joy is protective of her relationship. In the times we've seen her on the show, she seemed protective over Fabian, ex. giving him the nick name over the video chat, like she didn't want Nina to get in between their relationship.

-RainSummers: You're just going to have to wait and see! Sorry for the cliffhanger! The show does it all the time!

-allyouneedislove1797: Love, it's okay! I've reviewed late on stories! I'm just glad you reviewed and gave me a positive review. Thanks for saying the last chapter wasn't horrible, it boosted my confidence. (: And true, the little things make a couple mushy, not the kissing as much . . . /:

-2funE4U: Thanks for your review! That made my day. (:

-applesngrapes: Yay! You reviewed! I guess you got my hint. (; Not that it was obvious . . . And yes, it is quite sad that he does not remember the most important date of the last year/term when she was at Anubis: PROM! When they kissed! Sigh, well, you're just going to have to wait for the next chapters!

That's all for tonight! I'm so glad everyone thought that last chapter (Chapter 4) was good. Every review made my day! I'm also happy that there haven't been any negative reviews! So I suppose that means it's good?

I do wish there were more reviews, but at least there are 30+ reviews! Thanks again to all of the people who review every chapter! You know who you are. (: I appreciate all of you awesome readers and I'm glad you're reading (and hopefully reviewing!)

Can't forget: If you like this story, look at Dante Alighieri1308's HoA stories, they are amazing; Curious .Panther .87 (I hope you're name shows up), her stories are freaking fantastic, I am not joking; 2funE4U has several HoA stories, so you should check those out; TICKLES3000 has a few HoA stories you people might like; and allyouneedislove1797 has a bunch of stories about HoA that I think are pretty good.

Now that my entire tirade of advertising is over, I must go. OH! I CAN'T FORGET MiaAndOak! Her stories are mainly one-shots, but she is still a budding author like me! (Even though she has several more stories than I do.)

Good night, fellow Fanfictioners, and read and review, please!  
>~Ary<p> 


	6. First Look

Yep! See? I told you it would be an update soon! But since it was so quick, this chapter may be a little . . . bad. Anyways, disclaimer time!

Disclaimer: The characters of Odin House belong to **_Dante Alighieri1308. House of Anubis characters belong to Nick and Studio 100._**

Another note, I feel like an idiot for not addressing the last asterisk in the last chapter.

-The asterisk by Tori's name was because I was unsure if that sentence was worded right. It seemed jumbled to me, but I tried fixing it and ended up with the same confusing result.

-Also, Camden Cakes is a legitimate place! I'm not joking! Look on Google, it's there. (:

That's all. I promise the asterisks in this chapter will be addressed! And if I somehow forget, chastise me in your reviews!

Now, onto Chapter 6!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6-First Look<p>

I told him pretty much everything. How I used to live in Anubis, went to the End-of-Term Prom with one of the guys there (I did not want to name names unless I had to), and then woken up having never gone to England before. I didn't want to tell him about the mystery; that seemed like too much craziness over the original craziness.

When I was finished, Michael was not gaping at me like I was a fish with ten eyes, like I had expected, but just looking at me normally, only his eyes were widened a bit.

I hung my head. "You probably think I'm crazy now, don't you?"

I heard Michael's chair scrape against the floor and then his footsteps walking toward me. A hand was placed on my shoulder, and a voice spoke above my head,

"No, I don't think you're crazy. I think the whole _idea_ is crazy, but not you."

I stood up and whirled around so fast my shoulder hit his chin, making poor Michael stumble backwards. He hit the glass window with a dull thud, making several people around the room stare at us with confused expressions. I nervously smiled at them, grabbing Michael's arm and dragging him outside of the shop, tossing our empty coffee cups in the trash on the way out.

I sat him on the bench outside, staring him straight in the eye. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

He shook his head. "I just don't understand how no one else remembers you. Wait, how do you know they don't remember you? Maybe they do. Have you talked to anyone from Anubis House?"

"Um, yes, I actually did talk to someone. Fabian," I said, blushing a bit just at the sound of his name.

"Was he the one you went to the Prom with?" he asked. His voice had a bit of an edge to it.

"Er, yes. I went to Prom with him." I looked at him for a second. His brown eyes flashed for a second, but were soft again when they met my eyes. "Are you okay?"

He ignored my last question. "What's weird is that I went to the Prom last year, but it was a girl with dark brown hair and some guy from Anubis House who got elected as Prom King and Queen."

I gasped. "Wait, what? Joy and Fabian were elected? So there _was_ a Prom last year? So it wasn't just a dream." I could feel myself smiling. I was right, everything had happened last year. The only question is, why doesn't anyone remember me?

"Yeah, there was a Prom last year. I went with Charlotte last ye-" Michael said, faltering on the last sentence.

"You like Charlotte?" I asked, feeling something creep on the back of my neck. At the same time, a sort of hopelessness fell over my mind.

His eyes widened. "No! No, I don't! I-I don't like her anymore!" he stuttered out.

I blocked all of the bad emotions from my face and tried to look calm. _Stupid teenage hormones! Will you_ stop _making my emotions go out of control?_ I screamed at myself.

I laughed lightly, even though I heard a nervous edge to it. "Michael! Relax, I don't care if you like her like that. It doesn't even matter what I think. As long as your happy, I'm happy."

After that, it got really quiet between us. I looked to the side, putting a lock of my straightened hair behind my ear. Michael looked down with a half-smile on his face. When he met my eyes again, he was his normal, cheery self again.

"So. Shall we go back?" he asked in a fake British accent. He held out an arm, and I linked mine through. I laughed.

"Yes, we shall." I replied in an equally fake accent. "When did you acquire the accent?"

"Oh, just over the past few years at this school, love. Now, shall I hail us a taxi then?"

I stifled a laugh. This was just getting ridiculous. "Sure. Can we stop with the accent? We sound really stupid right now."

"Okay, no more accent. Hey! Taxi!" Michael waved a hand at the passing cars. Soon, a black taxi cab pulled up, and we got inside.

We made small talk on the way back and laughed a little, but nothing major. It seemed there was an awkward tension between us ever since he brought up that he had brought Charlotte to Prom.

I could not help but think about the two of them. Together. I suppose it would be plausible. I pictured the two of them holding hands and laughing together. It worked. In the back of my mind, though, a little voice was disagreeing with my diligent ultimatum. _You won't be happy if he's dating Charlotte, Nina. You know that! Even if he is happy,_ it said.

I shook myself mentally. _No. I don't like Michael. I don't. Stop freaking yourself out, Nina._

One thing I was confused about is when Charlotte asked me about me and Michael that first week. Did that mean she was over him? Did that mean they're relationship was done? Was Michael still in love with her? I needed answers!

"Stop stressing out, Nina," I heard Michael say beside me.

I turned to him. "What?"

"I can tell you're freaking yourself out over something. Stop." His eyes were on me, not wavering between me and the window with a scenic view like before. He was really serious.

"Sorry. How'd you know I was worrying about something?" I asked.

"Even though I've only known you for a little while, it's easy to tell when you're stressing out. You look tense, you mess with your hair a lot, and your eyebrows are always pushed together. Those seem like good signs of being stressed."

All of those things were true. "Great. Am I that bad at masking my emotions?" He nodded. "Terrific," I said. I slumped against the seat, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Nina, just relax. I'll help you figure out what's going on with the whole mysterious dream thing, okay? Now, relax."

I blew a strand of hair off of my face. So that's what he thought I was worrying about? Well, I suppose it was better than him knowing about me being a little jealous of Charlotte for some reason. Why was I a bit jealous? I don't like Michael more than a friend. Right?

"Stressing, again," he said.

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window at the passing trees. I saw two figures in the corner of my eye. It was a girl with dark hair swept back into a messy bun, and a boy with untidy brown hair. He held a picnic basket in one hand, and her hand in the other. They were chatting and laughing.

"Fabian? Joy?" I breathed. As the taxi passed them, they didn't look up, they kept walking and smiling and laughing. It really annoyed me.

I could feel Michael peering next to me. His breath was on the back of my neck. It gave me a weird, shivery feeling. "Yeah, those are the two who were Prom King and Queen."

_Of course they were,_ I said to myself. _They _are_ the perfect couple._

I turned my face away from the window only to hit foreheads with Michael, who was, evidently, directly behind me. I moved a hand to the place where a bump was already forming. I have seriously got to stop knocking into him.*

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I said, touching his temple where his hand was covering a bright red mark.

"Ugh, it's fine. Ow. Nina, will you stop bumping into me?" he said jokingly.

"Excuse me! I was just turning around! _You_ were the one who was behind me! When you saw me turning, you should have moved!" I replied, also joking.

"Touché," he said.

The cab stopped, and Michael handed him the money to pay for the trip. Again, against my protests. Why did he want to pay for everything? Agh, it's so unfair of me to take advantage of him like that. I don't want him spending his money on me.*

We walked back to Odin House together, talking about the great doughnuts at Camden's Cakes and how we should have brought some for everyone at Odin. I realized that if word got out we went to the great pastry shop, and we did not bring anything back, we would be killed for bringing nothing.

"Alan will be especially hurt that we didn't bring anything back. He loves their jelly doughnuts," Michael said, laughing.

I laughed alongside him, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me. Just like the way Fabian used to look at me. With a light in his eye, a smile on his lips, and a small laugh.

Wait, what? Michael does _not_ like me. He said he went to Prom with Charlotte! He must still like her. Could a summer change someone's feelings? No, it could not possibly change someone's love. He did not like me. It felt like I was convincing myself more than stating a fact.

That was the first look I got from Michael. And I could not help but feel there was something more to that look than just a passing glance. Whether he saw the Odin House Nina: cool, calm and collected, or the Nina on the inside struggling to find a ground between what was real and what was fake. I could only wonder what he was really thinking when he looked into my eyes.

* * *

><p>Okay, asterisk time!<p>

-The first one is a similar scene between Nina and Fabian when they are looking for a clue in the fireplace. I kind of wanted it similar to show the chemistry going on between them.

-The second one is because Nina seems like the martyr friend, the one who wants to do it all and be selfless. She doesn't want Michael paying for her because she doesn't want him to think he has to pay for everything and be pictured as a "gold digger". I don't know, I was just addressing this because many Americans would have just let him pay, not freak out about it.

I know absolutely NOTHING happened in this chapter. I know it was a FILLER! I'm sorry! I wanted to add a little romance. After all, the story is in the "Romance" genre. (: And I wanted to build he and Nina's relationship more. So don't hate me Fabina fans! I'm Fabina, too! It'll come later!

Reviewer Replies! (I know! In the original version of this chapter, I forgot...)

-SnowAllAround: Yeah! An update fast! Happy? (: Yeah, Michael is better. JK! I am Fabina forever! But you probably like Michael more because we haven't seen Fabian that much. And yes, doughnuts sound good about now.

.: Aww . . . You're review made me smile so much! You are so sweet! I bet you would do great writing a story like this! Don't doubt yourself!

-Dante: Sorry, I would spell out your name, but I'm really tired. /: Anyways, thanks for your review! Your one of the best reviewers because you give me such good criticism. Oh, and I feel like an idiot for not explaining the asterisk last chapter. But I did now! And yeah, I messaged you about Charlotte! Please reply! But again, thanks for reviewing!

-applesngrapes: You're a great reviewer! You review almost all of the chapters! Thank you so much! And did this chapter answer your question? Yeah, I don't know how to spell the crow's name. Let's hope my spelling is okay!

-ilovehoa123: I'm not sure how to respond to that. c:

-miyame-chan: Thanks for your reviews! Do these chapters answer your question?

-applemysteries: Hi, I wonder who this is? (: But thanks, glad you like the story so far! SPUFFY FOREVER! And I updated!

Again, thanks so much for reading! You guys are so awesome! I love you all! Those of you who read, but don't review, I still love you, but I wish you'd review and give me some criticism! Is that too much to ask? -_-

Anyways, I hope you all like it! Leave me the reviews and comments I love!  
>~Ary<p>

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Now that my advertising is done. G'night, fellow Fanfictioners!


	7. We Meet Again

Hello, amazing readers and reviewers! It has been more then a week of no updates! Tragic, I know. ):

In case any of you care, it was because of Writer's Block and dance that this chapter is so late. Writer's Block: well, that is pretty much self-explanatory. Dance: I'm preparing for a summer intensive that lasts 6 weeks! It's out of state, too! Yes!

Anyways, onto the more important things. Like a disclaimer!

-All Odin House characters such as Charlotte, Michael, and Debbie, who seem to be the only people I write about... (I should fix that) belong to **_Dante Alighieri1308_**. I promise to write about the other characters soon!

-House of Anubis characters don't belong to me either... Sadly. It's so sad.

Now, the chapter all of you have been patiently waiting for: Chapter 7!

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><p>Chapter 7-We Meet Again . . .<p>

After telling Michael about my crazy dream, I felt much better. It was as if a huge weight lifted off of my chest, as if a burden as heavy as the sky was taken from my shoulders; I knew I did not have to face this alone, this new mystery surrounding a disappearance, memory loss, and a new life.

School went on without a change, though Michael did talk to me more often. He wanted me to talk to more of the Anubis people, but for some reason I always found a way to get out of it. Maybe I was afraid if anyone else did not know who I was I would break down completely?

On a different note, I wanted to ask Charlotte about her history with Michael, not because I wanted to be nosy, but because I was curious about why Michael was so awkward about it when he told me.

I saw her in the corner of the hallway, talking to a cheerleader with pretty blond hair, and I rushed forward to walk back to Odin with her. I ran into someone who had turned the corner, and my bag swung forward, dropping all of my books to the ground. The person's bags also fell and they stumbled forward to pick them up.

I groaned and dropped to my knees to gather whatever contents had fallen. One history book, one math (or as the British called it, "maths") book, one notebook for French, and my pencil case. Just as I was about to grab the last thing, the novel "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, a hand reached and grabbed it instead.

"Excuse me, but that's mine," I said, reaching to take it.

A familiar voice replied, "Um, no. This book is mine. It has my name in it."

I looked up, staring into Fabian's dark blue eyes. For a second, I could not breathe, staring into those eyes. Once, I had fallen in love because of those blue eyes. I blinked fast, snapping out of my trance.

"Let's just see whose name is on the inside." I snatched the paperback from him and opened the book to the inside cover. "Nina Martin" was written in neat handwriting.

"See?" I said.

Fabian looked confused. "Then where's mine?" He searched through the remaining things on the floor,

I lifted up the navy blue notebook that I had borrowed from him for French a few weeks back and saw a green and gold cover. I looked on the inside cover and saw "Fabian Rutter" written in his handwriting.

I shook the novel in his face. "I think this one is yours," I said.

He gave me a grateful look. "Thanks." He stood up as I collected the last few things that still laid on the ground.

"No problem, it was just a mix-up," I replied.

"Nina, right?" Why does he keep forgetting my name? "Sorry for accusing you about taking my book."

"It's okay. It was just a mistake. You're name's Fabian?" I asked.

"Yeah. What's your next class?" he said. "I have Biology with Sweetie."

"Me too! Can you believe that assignment he gave us last week? I had no idea how to finish it."

"Oh, all you do is formulate the equation and-" He was interrupted by a loud exclamation.

"Fabian! What are you doing?" Joy said in a shrill voice. She appeared behind us, a fire in her eyes at seeing the two of us chatting. Was I that jealous when I saw him with Joy?

"Oh, hi Joy." Fabian wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. Blood boiled under my skin at the sight. I'm supposed to be in Joy's position this year. He was supposed to be kissing _me_, tugging _me_ close to him; I could not keep these jealous thoughts from running through my mind as I watched Joy smile in reply and tuck her head onto his shoulder.

"Have you met Nina? She's in a few of our classes, and I almost stole her Drama novel." He gave me one of his cute smiles, the ones I loved seeing.

Joy lifted her head from Fabian's shoulder. She tilted her head, giving me an inquiring look. "No, I haven't met you. Hi, I'm Joy Mercer."

"Hey. Nina Martin. Great to meet you." I smiled. I did not want to get off on the wrong foot with Joy, like last time I had met her. After I had put the cup together, she did not look very happy with me. So, I was determined to be friends with her this year.

She nodded, and then glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shoot, Fabes were going to be late for class. Let's go."

Fabian noticed the time and nodded. He grabbed her wrist and said, "C'mon Nina. We can't be late!" I followed him to class, glad to finally be talking to Fabian.

Class went on as usual, though Fabian stopped looking at Joy so much and more at the lesson. Seeing his attention averted made class much more bearable, knowing Joy was not the center of his universe.

By the time the day was over, Fabian and I had become friends once again. We sat together at lunch, talking and rambling about random things. I met Amber and Patricia, too. This is how the conversation went . . .

Fabian walked toward the couch where Amber was drying her pink nails, adding little white flowers to the dry nails. Patricia was sitting at the base of the couch, playing the game "Tetris" on her phone.

"Hey guys, this is Nina. She's new here," Joy announced. Amber and Patricia looked up. Patricia raised an eyebrow.

"Newbie, huh?" I had a flicker of a memory at my first day of Anubis, when Patricia had given me the title of "the new girl/newbie". "Aren't you the American?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm here on a scholarship program. Hi."

Patricia gave me a half-smile, and I noticed Amber looking at me curiously. Her head was to the side, her hand paused in midair as she painted her ring finger with a white petal.

"Do I know you? You look really familiar." She capped the nail polish bottle, waved her hands around to dry the paint and stood up to greet me. "I feel like I know you. Have I met you before?"

My inner dialogue started babbling: Yep Amber, we have met. I went to Anubis House last year after Joy was kidnapped by a desperate cult trying to gain immortal life, then we solved a mystery where we found an old Egyptian treasure from King Tut's tomb, called the Cup of Ankh, which gives immortality with an elixir created by the evil housekeeper Victor!

On the side of that, Patricia thought I was a major part of Joy's disappearance, until she joined "Sibuna", our mystery-solving gang, so she switched rooms with you and Mara. We became roommates and best friends. After we solved the mystery, Mara, becoming the representative of the school, allows the school to have a Prom where Amber elected Fabian and I as Prom King and Queen, and the rest is history.

What I really said, was, "I don't think so. I've never been to England before, so I doubt I've seen you around."

"Hmm," Amber pondered for a moment. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Mick walking in the door. She focused on him, completely forgetting Patricia, Fabian, Joy and I.

"Mick! How are you? I haven't seen you in so long!" Amber hugged her boyfriend around the waist.

Mick smiled, wiping his sweaty face with a towel wrapped around his neck. "Sorry, Ambs, training is getting rough. Ms. Roberts is killing me with all of the laps."

"Oh, sorry Boo! That sounds _so_ hard! I don't know _how_ you do it; I could never get that sweaty." Amber rolled her eyes. She gasped, as if remembering something. "Oh! Mick, meet Nina! She's new here."

"Hey, Mick Campbell. Nice meeting you, Nina." Mick smiled. There was a small silence, then Mick broke it. "Well, I'm gonna get my lunch, I'll see you later, everyone."

After that, conversation moved along steadily. Patricia and Joy started chatting, Fabian began to eat his lunch while reading a science-fiction novel, and Amber and I began to talk, which mainly consisted me listening to Amber rambling about her relationship with Mick as I nodded and gave the appropriate responses.

As I walked back to Odin House through the cul-de-sac of homes, I looked at the phone number painted in white nail polish on my hand. It was Amber's; she said to call soon so we could meet for shopping.

When I was at the door, I went through the entrance and immediately got hugged by Tori. I was stunned and shocked. Why was _Tori_ hugging me?

She glanced into my face, her expression full of joy and her face fell. She shoved me aside, scoffing and said, "Ugh, not _you_! I'm looking for Tony, seen him?"

I shook my head, silently ascending the stairs. "Sorry, no. Just left school and he wasn't there."

She blew air out of her pursed lips, looking through the peephole in the doorway. I turned tail and ran into my room. I opened the door a crack and heard a soft voice whispering.

"Michael, why did you give this to me? Why did we ever break up? It was just such a stupid thing . . . And why have I kept this necklace from you?"

"Why are you asking yourself questions?" I asked, opening the door all the way and striding into the room.

Charlotte gasped, stuffing something under her pillow. She pressed some starfish pillows from her bed onto the hidden object, giving me a nervous smile. Then, she sat onto the pillows, completely obscuring whatever was underneath the various pillows.

"H-Hey Nina. What's up?" Charlotte let off a nervous laugh.

I raised an eyebrow. "What have you got under there?"

"N-Nothing. You must have been imagining things. Hey, let's go downstairs! I think Debbie made cookies!"

"You want to have some of Debbie's cookies? Yeah, that's a great distraction. I can tell when you're lying. What is it?" I said, moving toward her.

She actually laid onto the pillows. "It's nothing! Let's go, yeah?"

"No, I actually want to see what you're hiding. Let me see it," I replied, grabbed her arms to pull her off of the pillows. Charlotte resisted, and we tugged back and forth at each other.

Finally, I was able to reach from under her to grab the pillow from underneath her. There was a chain sitting there, with a delicate pendant at its center.

I sat on the bed, picking the necklace up by its chain. "Michael gave this to you." It was not a question, a simple statement.

"Yeah. We used to go out. And, he gave it to me for Christmas."

"Will you tell me about it?" I asked softly.

Charlotte took a deep breath, about to speak, when Debbie burst through the door. She was out-of-breath, her expression frazzled from panic. Her normally straight hair was flying all over the place, more proof of Debbie freaking out.

She asked, "Have any of you seen Alan?"

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><p>So. That was Chapter 7. Hope you liked it, because I certainly did not. It took me forever to write this chapter. I had all of it planned in my head after I finished Chapter 6. But after her encounter with Fabian, I just lost my writing spree. That was the main reason for such a long wait.<p>

Yes, the cliff hanger was necessary, I need to figure out a good story for Charlotte and Michael's relationship. Any of you have amazing ideas, please PM me, or write it in the reviews! Thanks. (:

Onto Reviewer Replies:

-miyame-chan: You're name is cool! It sounds foreign. O.o Thanks for your reviews, and I am so glad I am in the "like" section. That's the best section.

-I'm a Daydreamer: Great name, by the way! Is not being able to reply to a story a compliment? Hmm . . . well, either way, please keep on reviewing!

-SnowAllAround: Another update, so fast, I know! But this one took so long and was probably so much slower. Ohhh! Thanks so much for your review, it made me smile.

-TICKLES3000: LIVE WITH IT! But don't worry, it will change soon! I'm a Fabina fan, too!

-applesngrapes: Thank you for your review! You're one of my best reviewers, and each of your reviews make my heart swell (with happiness, don't worry.)

-dragolover99: I know you didn't review for Chapter 6, but I do want to answer your questions: 1) Look up Het Huis Anubis Alflevering 1 (aka Ep. 1). That's where I found mine. It ends around ep. 6/7 in English, so I continued watching in Dutch. I wish I understood it, but it's still great! (:

-Dante Alighieri1308: You are seriously one of my best reviewers. I am not bluffing. (Mainly because you know the Odin characters more than me, but still you're a great reviewer.) I loved your review because it gave me constructive criticism while also being positive. Thanks!

-hethuissibuna: First, your name ROCKS. Second, like I told TICKLES3000, you're going to have to wait, but yes, there will be. Don't worry, I AM a Fabina fan.

-HarryPotterRoxMySoxForever: Oh my gosh, my poor fingers. Your name is so long. 6 words. Bleh... (But I felt I should spell out your name to be polite.) Anyways, thank you for reviewing! I see you returned the favor! Well at least I know you were reading, just ... not reviewing. /: But, I am so glad you love the concept of the story! I'm glad I'm keeping you on edge, waiting for the next thing to happen. Next chapter WILL be coming soon!

Tell me your thoughts and comments on this latest installment of "Only A Dream?" by clicking the Review button! Please? Everyone who _is_ reviewing, thank you so much and keep on commenting! You guys who read this story, you're the reason I write and keep going! (I know that was corny, but I needed to say it!)

Any of you _NOT_ reviewing, SHAME ON YOU! Even if your anonymous, I accept those reviews! I'd love to hear what you people have to say! It really makes my day every time I see a new email stating, Fanfiction Story Review. Each one makes me smile, so please make a person smile and review this story!

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Oh, and for all you Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, check out applemysteries. She's a close friend of mine, and she writes plenty of Buffy!

It is now 2:30 in the morning where I live, which just shows how much I love you guys-to stay up so late even though tomorrow/this morning I have to get up at 7. Great. Now I must go sleep! Next chapter will come soon! I promise! Even if it is a small filler, there will be another chapter!

~Ary


	8. Truth Be Told

All of you readers and reviewers, you better love me for updating this. It's nearly 3am, and I have ballet class tomorrow, and I am going to be exhausted. Uggghhhh... I am going to be so tired tomorrow... Ahhhhhhh!

Anyways, A/N at the end. And I have just posted a new song-fic, so if you have some time, please read and review it!

Disclaimer:

-Anubis House and it's characters are not mine, they are Nickelodeon's and Studio 100's. I really wish I did, I would have given the fans a more specific date than just saying "We will be having a Season 2 known as 'Sibuna Returns'!" That does not help us! We all want a date and time so we can tune in to see the amazing show!

-Odin House and characters belong to Dante Alighieri1308, not me. That's it.

To Chapter 8 . . .

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><p>Chapter 8-Truth Be Told<p>

"Alan? Alan?" Charlotte called, searching through the surrounding trees of Odin House.

I walked toward her, scanning the bushes below the trees. No sign of a red head. If he was anywhere in the trees, we would have seen him. His hair is such a bright red its like its own fire.

"Where could he be?" I asked.

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't know. Go check the school, I'll tell Debbie he's not over here."

I nodded and ran across the field towards the school doors. No idea why Alan would be hiding at school, but better to check rather than have him stuck there with no food for the entire weekend.

Someone grabbed my arm, stopping me from zipping through the doors. However, because the person grabbed my arm, my body turned from the speed and smacked right into them.

"Ow! Nina! What was that for?" Amber's familiar whine reached my ears. I turned and saw the blonde sitting on the ground, rubbing her shoulder, which was apparently where I had knocked into her.

"Amber! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I gave her a hand up and she stood up, glaring at me.

"Nina, that was awful! Why were going into the school anyways?" she asked, her eyes turning from anger to curiosity.

"I was looking for someone. Alan Ma-" She interrupted me,

"Besides that, you have got to come to Anubis House! Alfie met this kid who was pranking Tori Dicce with water balloons, but Alfie told him about _better_ things to do apparently. So now he's at Anubis, planning to prank all of us! You have to help us get rid of him!"

I knew exactly who Alfie had met. Only _one_ person would try pranking Tori: Mr. Alan Mars. I followed Amber along the still-familiar path towards Anubis House. Even after a month and a half at Odin House, I still remembered Anubis and it's unique charm.

I saw the huge windows and antique framework of the house and ran faster, unable to slow down my excitement of seeing my old house again. Stopping at the porch, I looked at the sign hanging above the front doors, reading: "Anubis House."

A rush of memories flooded back to me. Getting out of the cab that brought me to this school; bumping into Patricia, Fabian, and Joy while trying to run after the cab driver who had my suitcase; marveling at the old house when I first saw it.

"Nina?" Amber waved a hand across my face and I snapped out of my reverie.

"Wh-?" I said, looking around me. "Oh, sorry Amber. I spaced out for a second."

"Ri-ight." She raised an eyebrow, going to the porch and walking into the house. I followed her, giving one last look at the outside of the house before opening the door and going inside.

The house was exactly as I remembered it. To the left was the living room, the right was the staircase, straight ahead were the boys' rooms. The antique grandfather clock stood by the entryway of the living room, and the door to the cellar was still near the staircase, as was the little cupboard under the stairs where Fabian and I had found pictures of Victor's father from the 1920's.

"Nina!" Alan shouted from the living room. He poked his head from around the corner and stared incredulously at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I know Amber, Mick, Patricia, Joy, and Fabian. Why are _you_ here?" I replied, striding into the room.

"I met Alfie here, when I was planning to talk to Tori." He nudged Alfie, who sat at his left, with his elbow.

I shot Amber a look, saying, _Talking?_ Amber rolled her eyes, replying, _No, more like pranking as an attempt at flirting._

Patricia's voice rang through the air. "No, he was trying to throw a balloon at her to get her attention!" She strode into the room, dark red hair still intertwined with blue and purple hair extensions. A glass of orange juice was clasped in one hand, the other hand at her hip, and her usual smirk was plastered on her face.

Amber and I sat down on the black leather couch and I remembered it from my times relaxing after school. Then, I heard a noise coming from the table where Alfie and Alan were sitting. I looked down and saw Alan stirring something in a silver bowl that looked suspiciously like mud.

Alfie noticed me looking at the concoction of unknown stuff, and stood up to greet me. "Hi! Alfie Lewis, Alien Rebellion Army Leader. Nice to meet you-" He trailed off, waiting for me to supply my name.

"Nina," I finished for him. "I'm from Odin House, like Alan. I'm new here- Oh no! I have to tell Charlotte you are here, Alan!" I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number.

"Why? Is she worried about me?" Alan raised his eyebrows suggestively. In reply, I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"No! She does not like you that way! We were all looking for you. We had not seen you since this morning. And you did not sign out so we didn't know where you were."

"Oh, sorry. Tell her I'm sorry," Alan said.

"Shh!" The dial tone stopped and Charlotte's voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Char! I found Alan. He's at Anubis House. He was hanging out with Alfie Lewis."

"Really? Awesome, I'll tell Debbie!" I heard Charlotte move away from the phone, and from farther away Debbie's panicked voice turned to a calm tone as Charlotte explained where Alan was.

"Okay, I told her. Where's Anubis House?"

"Oh, um...through the trees to the right of the school. At the end of the path, there's a big antique house with huge windows. It's easy to find, you can't miss it."

"Mm, nah. I'll probably get lost on the way there. Meet you back at Odin, okay? Remind Alan that supper is at seven tonight."

"Okay, bye." I wondered if Debbie was going to cook . . .

She replied, "Bye," and hung up the phone. I addressed Alan, "Okay, dinner is at seven, and hopefully Debbie is ordering out because I don't think I can stand another 'meatloaf surprise' . . ." I shook my head and shuddered as I recalled the memory.

Alan looked at me in surprise. "We're eating one of Debbie's creations? We might as well sign into the hospital now, to save us the drama of going through food poisoning."

I half-laughed.

"Is that the famous Debbie who cannot cook that I've been hearing about?" Jerome asked from the kitchen. He noticed me standing there. "Oh, hi there. Don't think we've met. Jerome Clarke."

"Nina Martin," I replied.

He nodded at me. "So is that the infamous Debbie you're talking about?"

"Yep, she can barely create a bowl of macaroni without burning or missing some ingredient." I remembered Debbie asking me to help her cook scalloped potatoes, even though I had not had much experience cooking it, so I had politely said, sorry, I can't help, and went on my way.

Jerome laughed, and came to sit on the couch across from me and Amber.

We all began to chat, Alfie cracking some joke and everyone stifling laughs. Suddenly, thundering footsteps echoed through the room. We all stared at the ceiling in complete silence.

"_What is going on down here_?" Victor shouted as he came down the stairs.

We all stared at the doorway, where Victor was fuming and glaring down at all of us. He had not changed much from when I last saw him. Same brown trench coat, same slicked back hair, same beady eyes, same angry scowl always on his face; it was the same Victor.

"What is all the noise about? Answer me!"

"C'mon Victor, can't we have a little fun once in a while?" Alfie asked.

"No! It is too loud down here. Now everyone go to your rooms and prepare for supper. Anyone else who doesn't live here: _get out_!"

We all stood up, talking quietly to each other as Victor stormed out of the room. I saw Alan trying to smuggle the bowl of mud-colored mush with us to Odin, and took the bowl from his arms.

I shook my head. "Don't bring it, Alan. Tori won't be happy with a mud pie on her head."

He hung his head, taking the bowl from my hands and handing the bowl to Alfie. "I'll get it tomorrow," I heard him mutter.

I rolled my eyes and we walked back to Odin House, a quiet silence between us. The sun was setting behind the trees, casting shadows that swayed back in forth in time with the leaves dancing in the trees.

When I got back to my room, I saw a beautiful white clam shell hanging on a leather brown string sitting on Charlotte's bed. It was the necklace I had seen her hide from me yesterday.

I heard the door close behind me. "Do you want to tell me the story behind that shell now?" I asked Charlotte.

She sat down on her bed, taking the shell necklace from my hands. She began in a soft voice, looking at me, but her eyes seemed to be staring through me, as if looking at an endless ocean and trying to find the shoreline on the opposite side.

"A few years back, Michael and I met each other at this school. We had been forced together as lab partners in Biology. At first, we really hated each other, we would always fight and argue about every detail. But then, we agreed on something and we formed a sort of friendship. After a few years, I think it became something more.

"He asked me out on the day before Winter Break, right before I was going to go back home to London. Of course I accepted, and everything went on smoothly for the rest of the year. I even got to kiss him, under the mistletoe, after Christmas." She blushed and bit her lip. "After that, I really felt like I loved him. He was sweet, smart, handsome; anything a girl could want." She sighed. "Do you have a rubber band or something? My hair is falling in my face."

I handed her the band on my wrist, and she tied her red hair back, brushing her bangs from her face. Her golden-brown eyes looked straight into mine. "On with the story. After a while, I heard rumors about him cheating on me and that we were not going to last as a couple. I got nervous, so I went up to Michael and dumped him. I mean, the proof was all there; he would talk to other girls, laugh with them, put his arm around them, etc.

"I was young then, only fourteen. And so, so insecure. As soon as I heard about our relationship issues, I did not want to be hurt, so I just broke it off."

"When did the shell come into play?" I asked.

"Oh, right. During Spring Break, Michael was swimming in those islands around Florida, the Florida K- Ke-"

"The Florida Keys?" I supplied.

"Yeah. He was scuba diving and found a really beautiful clam shell, this one. He strung it on the string and gave it to me. I've never taken it off since. Not even after we broke up. It's just so sweet and sentimental in my opinion."

I nodded and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as more memories came to her, making tears well up in her eyes. She blinked them away, gritting her teeth to prevent any more moisture from appearing. I rubbed her shoulder gently, not needing to know what she was thinking. Just personal stuff that only Char needed to know.

One last thought struck me before Charlotte and I had to go downstairs for supper: _Char finally told me her history with Michael. Yet the Anubis House mystery relating to my dream is still unclear. One mystery down, one to go._

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><p>Ahhhh... Awful, rushed chapter, I know. But I wanted to get in one last chapter before I leave for Milwaukee! I'm going to a six-week program for dance, which starts on Sunday, but I'm leaving on Thursday morning because I get to explore Chicago before I spend my entire summer dancing.<p>

To summarize the previous paragraph, basically there is a slim chance I'll have any access to a computer to type a new chapter up, and I get back from my dance program on July 31st, so basically next update will probably be early August. If I get any chance, I will try my best to post an update, but no promises...sorry. /:

Onto Reviewer Replies... (Yawn. Oh God, I NEED to go to sleep.)

-applemysteries: Aww. Thanks. I'm glad I'm a good incentive to write. (: You just learned about CxM's relationship, but you won't hear about Nina's memories until . . . AUGUST!

-SnowAllAround: Yep, another update after 4 DAYS! Crazy, right? And thanks for your review! Sorry about no Fabian and Nina meetings . . . I needed to get some of these Anubis-Odin meetings in here! Basically, Nina has met everyone, which is needed. Even if the characters are on the sidelines and minor, I still wanted her to know who each person was. Yes, Amber MAY have remembered Nina. Who knows? I DO!

-Anonymous reviewer and maddylove10: Thanks for your reviews! And maddylove10, sorry, wait for next update!

-S.I.B.U.N.A.1398: AHH! SO MANY REVIEWS! But thanks for all of them. They made me smile, even if they were short. Short, sweet and to the point.

-XxREDBOOTZxX: . . . I seriously teared up when I read your review. Thanks so much . . . You're so sweet . . . I might just go over and read a few of YOUR stories, and give you amazing compliments to return the favor. *wink wink nudge nudge*

-TICKLES3000: What? No, you didn't offend me at all. I was just saying "Live with it," as in "that's the way the story's going so that's all there is to it." And I even added that it was going to turn to Fabina. Don't worry, you're a constant reviewer, I could never really be mad at you!

-applesngrapes: You have found out what the necklace looked like! It wouldn't be the Eye of Horus, that's an Anubis specialty. I have plans for that necklace . . . *evil laugh* Amber remembering Nina? I will address that later . . . Maybe a little summary will be slipped if you PM me . . .

-HPRMSF: I don't really care _when_ you review, as long as you review! (: Have all of your questions been answered? Except for the Amber thing, everyone asked that question. As I've already said before: THIS WILL HAPPEN LATER ON. Sorry it's in caps, after repeatedly saying it, caps seemed necessary. o.o

-miyame-chan: Thanks for your review, it was so cute. (I would make a heart, but it doesn't show up.)

-hethuissibuna: I don't know . . . Maybe Joy will be mean? Maybe not? Who knows; just wait and see.

-Dante Alighieri1308: Thanks! I hope this chapter explained things decently, personally I thought it was a bit rushed . . . Oh well, too late to change it.

-2funE4U: Wh-? Joy's not even mean . . . yet. Just kidding! But thanks anyways for your review!

Okay, now I really need to sleep. It's an hour later than when I first started proofreading this chapter... ten minutes til 4 in the morning. Oh. My. God. I might just fall dead on my feet tomorrow morning.

You guys had better love me for doing this! I wanted to finish this before I left for Milwaukee, so this chapter (however bad it may be) came from my heart and whatever sleep I wasted.

I would advertise, but this is getting long. So please look at last chapter for advertisements. I promise next chapter will be better!

Goodnight!

~Ary

(I'm adding this now when I'm wide awake and able to type correctly. For those of you who read my song-fic, "The Story of Us", the answer is, in my opinion, both girls. In certain aspects, both POVs could work. Read the entire thing from Joy's POV, and most of it fits together. Some things may be off because I'm not sure about her actual history with Fabian.

However, this could also be told from Nina's POV, the first paragraph explains it all:

"Everything was great, until she reeled you back in with her evil claws. You even fell for it, just let her turn you into a little puppet. How could you? If you still loved her, why did you kiss me? Why?"

Even after Nina and Fabian kissed, maybe Joy's relationship with him was too great and Fabian fell, once again, for Joy. Again, this is a guess because we don't really know they're history. But I do think it went something like this . . .

If you want a better image of what I'm trying to say, read Dante Alighieri1308's story "What's A Guy To Do?" It explains what I'm saying perfectly. Basically, Nina and Fabian are practically together, but Joy is trying to butt in. And Nina, being the insecure and shy person we all know and love, doesn't want to try and intervene . . . or does she!

Anyways, that story could have been told from either POV. So there's the answer. Probably didn't think that it could be two answers, huh? (:

Now. I bid you farewell until August!)


	9. Into The Attic

I'm not going to try and make up excuses for how long I've been away... So... I don't own House of Anubis.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Amber's P.O.V*

I got ready for bed, putting on my pink nightgown. The nightgown came just a little above my knees and pale pink with a V-neck. I look the best in V-necks. They show off my long neck, making me look so elegant and classy; yes, elegant and classy even in a nightgown.

I slid a shiny pink sleeping mask over my eyes and said, "Goodnight Mara," to my roommate who laid in her bed across the room.

Mara put her book on the beside table and turned off her reading light. The bed squeaked as I heard her turn onto her side.

Yes, Mara and I had made up after the whole boyfriend-stealing incident. Truth is, Mick and I had not broken up once that year, which was totally unhealthy, studies even say that breaking up is good for a couple, being happy all the time is bad. So anyways, Mick and Mara broke up at the end of the year, which was lucky for me because this year, Mick came to me and said that he wanted me to forgive him.

He said, "Mara was a distraction, I didn't realize how much I loved you until I lost you," he had told me, and on his knees, too! It was so romantic, I told him we just had to try it again. I mean, every couple has their ups and downs, right?

So now we were a couple. And it was just as before. I was totally head-over-heels for him, and he looked at me the same way. Personally, I thought we were the cutest couple in the house. Well, fine, _second_ cutest couple.

Who was the cutest in the house, you may ask? It was obvious: Fabian and Joy. They were just adorable, sometimes so sweet that it was sickening. They started out so shy, until Joy finally kissed Fabian at Prom last year; he was so shocked. It was kind of adorable.

I smiled to myself. Their couple story was like one from a fairy tale-he was the prince and she the princess . . . well, actually, the shy prince and the unsure princess.

Enough thinking, I need my beauty sleep. This gorgeous blonde hair and pearly porcelain skin does not come naturally! I snuggled under my covers, falling sound asleep, dreaming of my future with Mick and of our adorable blonde children.

In the morning, I felt completely refreshed. The sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the best part, it was the weekend! No school!

I dressed quickly, into a white cashmere sweater, a peach skirt, and my gold heels. I skipped down the stairs-skipping in heels may sound hard, but it really is not if you get enough practice-and kissed Mick on the check.

"Trudy, what's for breakfast?" I asked, sitting at my usual seat near the head of the table, Mick at my right.

"The usual, dearie: eggs and waffles." The housemother smiled at me. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"Really? It's just that I'm excited about it being the weekend!" I felt bubbly and joyful, like happiness was about to overflow out of me.

"Ambs, that's what I love about you. You're just a ray of sunshine," Mick said. He kissed me softly on the lips, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I laid my head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. I could stay like this forever. But alas, it was not to be.

"Fabian!" Joy's voice came from above. I heard a light squeal, following shouts of "Come here, Joy!" and thuds on the stairs.

Fabian and Joy appeared in the entrance to the parlor, both laughing and . . . soaking wet? Fabian was only wearing a pair of plaid pajamas, his chest bare, but his hair obviously sopping.

Joy ran around the couch, but Fabian knew better and met her on the other side. She turned and tried to escape, however he picked her up around the waist and twirled her around, yelling, "I've got you!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Joy replied. She leaned forward, enough so that both of them fell to the floor. Each laughing hysterically, they tried to settle their breathing-which I suppose was hard for Joy since Fabian was lying on top of her.

"Oh, Joy, sorry! Here, let me help you up." Fabian scrambled up, his face a bit pink, and offered a hand to Joy.

The small brunette girl took the hand and pulled him forward, giving him a sly grin. "That's what you get for making me wet, Fabes!" She stood up, brushing herself off.

"Hey, Romeo and Juliet, breakfast is ready. Try not to make us vomit for once while we're eating with you're crazy flirting. Please," Jerome said, walking into the room.

Joy glanced at him, shaking her head and giving him a pitiful look. "Oh Jerome, don't be jealous. I'm sure some girl will find you're harsh personality charming."

Jerome rolled his eyes at her, sitting down at the table. In the corner of my eye, I saw Mara look at him, then back to her book. _Hmm, I wonder what that's about?_

Trudy placed two plates of eggs and waffles in the center of the table. She added pitchers of milk and orange juice to each end, then a bowl of strawberries and blueberries.

I took half a plate of eggs and handful of strawberries. No waffles for me, starches are so bad for my figure. But natural sugar like in the strawberries is so good.

"No waffles, Amber?" Patricia asked from across the table, putting a forkful of food into her mouth.

"I've told you before, Patricia. Waffles are bad for my figure." I rolled my eyes. I've said this so many times before, why does she not get it?

"Whatever, Amber. Go ahead and diet and starve yourself. I'm going to eat." She ate another bite.

Soon, we were finished eating, and then the doorbell rang. Trudy was grabbing all of our dishes, while Mara and Patricia were cleaning up. "Could someone get that?"

"I will, Trudy!" I called. I skipped down the hall, opening the door. There stood my new Odin House friend Nina, and she seemed surprised that I answered the door.

"Amber!" she exclaimed in her American accent. "Um, hi. I was just-uh . . ."

"Hey Nina! You just missed breakfast, it was amazing. Trudy cooked it fresh like usual. So good. Like scrambled eggs, strawberries, blueberries, and waffles, though waffles are so bad for you, and it was so amazing. I think we have a few leftovers, do you want to come in and-?"

"Amber," Nina interrupted. "That'd be great. Can I come in?"

"Yeah!" I opened the door wider to let her through. Once she was inside, I let the door shut behind her, quickly leading her to the kitchen.

"Hey Trudes, Nina here would like to try some of your food. Do you have any leftovers?" I flashed my best smile at Trudy, hoping she would comply to giving Nina a few scraps.

"Sure, sweetie. What was your name again?"

"It's Nina, pleasure to meet you."

"Nina." Trudy mused. "I feel like I've seen you before. Maybe at an Open House or something?"

"Probably not, it's my first time in England, and I haven't been to an Open House yet."

Trudy chuckled, "Don't worry, sweetie. It's probably this old mind going. Here, I'll get the extra waffles."

"Why does no one listen to me?" I shrieked. "Waffles are bad!"

"Amber, sweetie. That's why there are leftovers. You don't eat any of them, so there are several left."

I sighed in frustration, shaking my head. I thought, No one ever listens to me . . .

Nina took a plate of waffles and drizzled syrup over them. She stood at the counter, stuck a fork in the waffles and began to eat.

"Hey Nina, I'll be back in a bit. Will you be okay for a while?"

Nina smiled. "I'll be fine. I have Trudy here to keep me company."

I walked up the stairs to my room, opened the door, and saw Mara doodling something in her old notebook that she used while training with Mick. I shut the door quietly behind me, the soft noise not even fazing Mara. I tip-toed over to her, trying to look over her shoulder.

She was writing: "Jerome Clarke and Mara Jaffray" in a huge heart that was filled with smaller hearts. In another part of the page, "JC+MJ" was sketched over in over in several different types of fonts. I backed away a bit, trying to absorb Mara's huge crush over Jerome.

I decided to speak first, to get her attention, "Hey Mara."

In her surprise, Mara shot almost a foot in the air, her hand spasming* and creating a black scribble across the page. The pen in her hand fell to the floor with a loud clatter, and Mara quickly closed her notebook, hiding it behind her back.

"H-Hey Amber!" she stuttered, her face red as a tomato. "What's going on?" I lifted an eyebrow.

"How dumb do you think I am, Mara?" She looked anywhere but into my eyes. "It's easy to see you like Jerome."

"N-no I don't!"

"Denying it won't help anything." When she did not say anything, I continued, sitting on the bed next to her. "How long have you liked him?"

"A while."

I smiled slyly at her. "Could I see that notebook?"

"Um, no. It's my Algebra make-up test."

"Since when do you need to make-up a test?"

Mara sighed in exasperation. "Just forget it, okay?"

"Fine. If you won't tell me, I might just ask Jerome about it." I stood up, dusted off my shirt, and strode toward the door.

"Don't you dare!" Mara screeched, leaping from her sitting position on the bed and practically tackling me to the floor.

I tripped over my heels, heard a sharp crack and gasped, "You better not have made me break a heel, Mara Jaffray!" I examined the left heel, seeing that there were just a few scratches, no crack-it was fairly intact. I did the same with the right, seeing a single vertical crack splitting down the middle of the heel.

I huffed in anger. "Great Mara. Now I have to replace these shoes! And they were my favorite!"

She got off of me, kneeling on the ground. "I'm sorry . . . It's just that the notebook has some personal stuff that I don't really want to share."

I cast my eyes downward, suddenly feeling bad about yelling at her. "It's okay." I turned back to my bed and sat down, leaning down to grab a magazine that was neatly shelved at the bottom of the end table.

I smiled at a gorgeous black, off-the-shoulder dress that would look perfect on me for the Winter Formal later this year. I would look stunning, almost as stunning as I looked at Prom last year!

Something still stirred in the back of my mind when I thought of that day. Like, I had been hanging out with someone else besides Joy. Then, I had walked down into the creepy cellar and that's where my memory blanks. I struggled to remember, only to be hit with a massive headache.

I groaned softly, rubbing my temples. I should stop worrying about this, because worrying causes wrinkles. And I am _too_ young for wrinkles!

"You okay, Amber?" Mara asked me.

I looked over at her. Mara had replaced her old notebook with a thick book of some sort, whose title was written so extravagantly on the front that it just looked like a scribble of letters. Her eyes peered over the top as she examined me, making sure I was okay.

I shook my head, trying to wash away the sudden pain I had experienced. "Oh it's nothing. Just thinking about my dress to wear for the Winter Formal." I held up the fashion magazine. "I'm trying to decide between snow white or black and red polka-dotted."

Mara pursed her lips. "Personally, I think red and black. It's a lot more flashy than the white."

"Oh-kay, then. White." I squealed. "I'll look like an angel!"

My smart roommate shook her head. "Why do you always ask for my opinion but never use it?"

"Because then I can tell what is the most fashionable. Whichever you choose is usually what I shouldn't choose," I replied in my usual fashion.

Mara sighed, redirecting her attention to her book. I continued to thumb through the pages of the magazine, dog-earing a page when I found a cute pair of shoes or a sparkly pair of earrings. But I could not shake the feeling that there was something that happened on the last day of term. That something had changed my life as soon as I got down into the cellar.

I shrugged it off. No need to worry about it now, it probably can wait until later.

Nina's POV

I had forgotten how much I had missed Trudy's cooking. The waffles were absolutely delicious. They were fluffy and light, and after adding the syrup made them sweet and savory. I finished them slowly, savoring the flavors, knowing that I would go back to Debbie's cooking soon.

A shrill timer went off. "Oh, that's the laundry. I'll be back in a bit, you'll be okay here?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I might just go explore around the house a little."

"Okay, Nina. Just try not to get lost in this old house, I know I have my first few days here!" Trudy laughed to herself, waltzing into the laundry room.

I rinsed my empty plate and used utensils in the sink and brushed my hands of any waffle crumbs. Then, peering around, I walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

Everything was exactly as I remembered it from last year. There was the grandfather clock near the staircase, the sarcophagus that Alfie had once been trapped in, the two boys' rooms with a bathroom across the hall; even the eyes of Horus carved into the banisters were still there, looking as creepy and sinister as ever.

I ascended the staircase, running my hand along the smooth wood of the railing. So many memories washed over me with every step I took. I looked down at the step I was now on, ducked down, and glanced around me. No one was around, so I quickly lifted the step from its position and lifted it up.

Sadly, under the eighth step was no clue. I sighed and placed the step back into it's position, hoping it would stay put and no one would get a twisted ankle like Victor had.

I continued to climb the stairs, finally reaching the door to Victor's study. I scanned the entire room, and he was nowhere to be seen.

_Great_, I mentally groaned. _The one reason I wanted to come to Anubis was to find Victor and demand some answers. But, of course, he's not here. Just. My. Luck._

I decided to continue down the hall, just to see if the rest of the house was the same as I remembered.

I opened the door leading to the girl's hall, remembering the innumerable times I had walked through them. I padded down the hallway, looking at each placard on the door to each room. I turned a corner and found myself looking directly at the door to the attic.

My entire body froze. If everything was up there, it would prove my theories. Maybe there was a book or something about memory loss up there.

I touched my hair, hunting for a hair pin. When I found one, I scurried toward the door to the attic. I searched the space around me, again, no one was around.

I closed my eyes, remembering how to unlock a door with a hair pin. I inserted the pin into the lock, twisted it back and forth* and the lock gave a soft click. _Yes. I was in._

I walked into the attic, one step at a time until I was fully submerged in the attic's dark spookiness. There was a quiet creaking noise as I looked around, and then suddenly there was complete darkness. I turned back to where the exit was, and the door was closed.

I continued into the attic, not daring to look back, in fear that I would chicken out. I needed answers.

I muttered, "Oh, Anubis House. You are just _too_ creepy."

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><p>*: Dictionary says this isn't a word, but I've heard it used, so I'm just gonna use it.<p>

Um, I really don't want to list excuses, I know none of them are good enough to explain my absence from this story. I really hope some of you are still with me. I completely understand if I don't receive any reviews for this chapter...

Also, I'm almost finished with Chapter 10. So as soon as that is finished and edited, it will be posted!

(I kind of skimmed this chapter, so if there are any mistakes I'm completely sorry!

Oh, and I'm just going to reply to reviewers from now on, unless they're anonymous, so no more EXTREMELY long A/Ns!

Okay, thanks everyone!  
>~Ary<p> 


	10. Memories of Old: The Good and The Bad

Disclaimer: I don't own HoA or Odin House and its characters.

I should have done this last chapter, but this is dedicated to scottskyhawks1999 for being my 100th reviewer. I love you guys, you're the most amazing readers. Thanks a bunch. (:

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><p>Chapter 10-Memories of Old: The Good and The Bad<p>

**~Nina's POV~**

I walked through the attic, seeing where I had first fell through the panel. The place where Sibuna had always met to listen to the cylinders. The time Fabian and I found the picture, where Fabian had squealed like a girl.

The glass window depicting a red and orange sunset throwing yellow rays in a gentle arc was still in that one area of the room that let in the sunlight at this time of day, so I saw the faint outlines of everything in the room. I finally reached the wall where the panel was located. I automatically reached for the chain at my neck, trying to grab the Eye of Horus to unlock the panel. Then I remembered.

I shook my head, pressing my forehead onto the smooth wooden surface. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

"This is hopeless," I murmured to myself. "Why am I even here? There's no way I could even get proof about last year being true. Even if I did, how and _why_ would people believe me."

I ran my hand over the impression of my locket that opened the panel. Then, I touched the bare area below my throat where the chain usually lay. Suddenly, I stumbled forward as the panel opened.

Before I hit the floor face-first, I caught myself with my hands, my nose an inch from the floor. My hair fell on the sides of my face, a few locks falling to the ground. I stood up, brushing myself off and looked around.

_What just happened?_ I thought. _How did it open without the locket?_

"Joy! Where'd you go?" Fabian called out. I heard footsteps treading toward me.

My eyes widened. I scanned the room to find a place to hide, but there was nothing but a few small boxes that would barely cover my head even if I crouched.

Fabian appeared from the panel, swinging a flashlight around, the beam shining everywhere. His eyes landed on me, his eyes growing as large as saucers.

"Nina? What are you doing up here? How did you- How did you get in here?" The flashlight beam motioned to the room.

"Fabian?" Joy called. She appeared from the far end of the room, the area that had been swathed in darkness. She also waved a flashlight around. When she caught sight of me, her brown eyes flashed with . . . anger? Confusion?

"What are you doing here?" Joy's voice was cold, as sharp as flint.

"I-I-" I was speechless. What was I supposed to say?

"How did you even get in here?" Fabian asked.

I was about to think up a random excuse, but Joy interrupted me. "I- Fabian, I opened the panel."

He tilted his head to the side. Joy gave the slightest motion towards her throat; it was so quick I might have just imagined it. Fabian nodded, though a confused expression still clouded his features.

"I was just leaving to go downstairs, for a snack. So I opened the panel, and-" she looked at me "-you fell in. You were walking around the house, found the attic and were curious, right?"

I realized that Joy was actually helping me figure out an excuse for Fabian. But, why?

"Um, yeah! I'm just curious. Yep, I love to explore and stuff. Uh, I was looking around, and found this wall. But it looked different, so I was looking at it, and then the panel opened and I toppled in."

"Oh. Okay." Fabian's voice was the only sound that was heard through the room. Afterwards, there was a long, awkward silence.

"Do you want to go downstairs or something?" I asked them.

"Right. For the snack that I was getting," Joy said, swiftly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, right. Let's go," Fabian added.

I walked through the panel first, into the larger part of the attic, and Joy and Fabian joined me quickly. I began walking down the stairs towards the door, but quickly glanced behind me.

They were both huddled over that one section where the Eye of Horus indentation was, and I saw Joy lift a familiar-looking silver chain from her shirt, and then a bright flash of red light.

I thought, _No. It can't be. She doesn't have it, it's your imagination, Nina._

But Fabian's soft voice drifted to my ears, which only confirmed my suspicions, "Do you think she saw it?"

Joy replied, "Not a chance. I don't think she noticed anything, and even if she did, she would probably think it was a trick of the light."

I opened the door, letting in the hallway's light, all the while thinking, _How stupid do you think I am, Joy?_

Later on, we were downstairs, just hanging out. I was texting Michael, telling him that Victor had not been there. It had been his idea to come here to tell Victor, but I added that I had found things in the attic. Less than a minute later, he replied, _Tell me more when you get back to Odin._

_Will do,_ I replied, sending the message and then tucking my phone into my pocket.

We heard the front door open, and Alfie exclaiming, "Guys! Look, it's raining!" The loud sound of pounding water on the roof reached our ears from outside.

Everyone turned to the window, and low and behold, rain was falling in long, never-ending sheets in the overcast sky outside. We all got up and ran inside, reveling in the feel of the first rain of the season.

My dark blue, three-quarter-sleeved shirt was soaked to my skin, but I did not care. Feeling the rain after such a long summer, and even a cold, but dry, autumn, the rain felt amazing.

"Nina!" Fabian called to me. I turned and was splashed in the face with a bucket of freezing rain water.

"Fabian!" I screeched, my hair was completely sopping, though it was hard to tell because of the other pouring rain around us. He darted away, laughing his head off.

I chased him, and once I finally caught up to him, I was able to push him to the ground, getting his clothes soaked in a puddle. However, the splash also hit my face, so I was hit with a bit of muddy water.

We were both laughing then, and because I was still laying on top of him, I heard his laughter rumble through his body. I blushed softly at the fact, and stood up-though not very successfully.

I slipped in the puddle, almost falling on my face, when he caught me by the arms. We continued to laugh at my clumsiness, me apologizing and saying I was so sorry about this and that. But just then, I realized how close I was. My face was so near to his, our breath mingling, fanning warm air over both of our faces. If I leaned just a little more, we would be kissing.

But I did not lean forward. I just gazed into those gorgeous, bottomless blue eyes. I had forgotten how much I missed those eyes looking into mine. His hands were still on my forearms, though not as tight at before. I looked down, then back into his eyes, my face a bit flushed from still being so close.

Suddenly, a shrill voice called out to us. "Fabian! What is going on?" The second time Joy has interrupted my reveries.

We both froze, and Fabian released his hold on my arms, nervously putting them behind his back. Each of us were blushing red, I could easily tell from the heat I now felt on my cheeks.

Our attention was locked on Joy, who was standing on the porch of Anubis house, completely dry, and a look of complete fury on her face. Probably since she saw her boyfriend and the new Odin girl close to kissing.

"Joy! I-It was nothing," Fabian stuttered.

Joy's eyes narrowed, her eyes darting between the two of us. I knew she did not believe it, it was hard to defend one's case when the evidence was completely clear. Her voice rang through the loud rain: "Fabian. Come in soon to get cleaned up. Trudy said she made _us_" -she said it like she was reinforcing the fact that it was only her and Fabian, that no one else was allowed- "a few treats after dinner, since it's our six-month anniversary."

"Coming," Fabian called from beside me. Joy walked back inside the house, and he turned to me, saying, "Sorry about that. I have to go. Talk to you later?"

I nodded, smiling. "Bye," I said softly.

He jogged up to the porch, wiped his feet on the welcome mat, and went inside.

Now I was alone in the rain, left with only my mingled thoughts about Fabian, still having no clue about why no one remembers me, and it seems Joy now has it out for me.

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><p>This is late I know . . . Just please review? The next update will be soon!<p>

Did you like the Fabina? It is really late, I know, but well worth it, right?

Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter!  
>~Ary<p> 


	11. An Idea

It's come to my attention that in Episode 51 of Season 1, Victor destroys the panel to find the puzzle pieces. Let's just say that this term, they rebuilt everything in the attic, which is why Fabian, Joy, and Nina use it.

And I don't own HoA. And I'm sorry it was almost two months since I last updated. I'm going to spare you the excuses and let you read.

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><p>Chapter 11-An Idea<p>

~Nina's POV~

As soon as I came inside to dry off, I did not see Fabian for the longest time, and I just hung around Alfie and Patricia who were chatting about some sort of TV show. I vaguely listened, nodding and giving short responses when necessary, all the while wanting to talk to him about what happened just a short time ago.

When it was around six-o'clock, and I was about to leave. I grabbed my stuff from the couch, slung the bag over my shoulder, and was about to walk out, when Amber squealed,

"I have the _best_ idea!"

What is it?" Mara glanced warily at her blonde roommate.

"We need to have another dance! This time for Christmas!"* She looked at Mara, and anyone could see that the wheels in her head were turning. "Mara, are you still school rep.?"

Mara shook her head. "I don't really know. They never told me I was _not_ this year. So, maybe. I'll have to ask Mrs. Andrews."

"Well, I really want you to ask them if we can have a Winter Formal."

"Amber, I barely got permission for the Prom. I don't think another dance will work out."

"Oh _pleeease_, Mara? Please please please please!" Amber begged. "I need to have another dance! I want to get a new dress!"

"What's this I hear about a new dance?" Joy asked, waltzing into the room. Fabian, as usual, was glued to her side. Fabian's hair was a bit mussed, while Joy looked the same as before, besides her face being a bit flushed. I turned a little red, realizing what had happened between them, and looked down at my hands.

"Mara was just about to organize one, right?" Amber flashed a smile at Mara, who sighed.

"All right, all right. Fine!" Mara agreed, rolling her eyes and smiling. She stood up, picked up her laptop from the table and sat back down to begin thinking of ideas for the Winter Formal.

I stood up, with my bag still at my side, and moved to walk to the door. But of course, Amber ran up to me and grabbed my arm.

"Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina! Are you going to the dance?" Amber squealed in my ear.

"No, Amber. I don't have a date." In the corner of my eye, I saw Fabian glance my way, giving me a small smile, while Joy was snuggling onto his arm and smiling. I turned away after seeing the sight. If he was with Joy, I was not going to think about him.

"Can't you at least come with me to the boutiques to pick out a dress?" Amber's eyes were big and pleading, begging me to come with her.

"Oh, all right." I smiled. "When is it?"

"Since it's November seventeenth, I say we have it in about three weeks," Mara deduced, checking her calender on her laptop's screen.

I checked the mental calender in my head, and nodded. "So, do you want to go shopping the week before?"

"Sure!" Amber bobbed her head as she nodded in reply, and she continued to bob her head like a broken bobble head.

I raised my eyebrows, but laughed anyways. "I gotta go, guys. Dinner is at seven at Odin."

"Bye Nina," they chorused as I closed the door behind me.

When I got back to Odin House, Tori was standing at the door yet again. A sheaf of flyers were in her hand, I sort of read them, having to crane my neck to read it.

"What are you looking at?" Tori asked, narrowing her eyes and moving the papers closer to her body.

"Uh, what are you handing out?" I replied.

"Here." She shoved a paper at me. Tori moved past me, walking through the door, and slammed it shut.

_Why does she hate me so much?_ I asked myself. I sighed, shaking my head. I looked down at the paper, scanning it quickly.

It read, _TORI AND TONY-BACK TOGETHER PARTY_

"Be there. Odin House-Friday Night-7 PM," I read to myself.

"Hey Nina!" Michael's cheery voice echoed through the hall. I glanced up, seeing him with his head sticking out of the doorway.

"Hey, Michael! What's this party thing about?" I asked.

"Oh, just some get-together for Tori and Tony. They got together for the umpteenth time." He rolled his eyes.

"Why'd you roll your eyes?"

"Oh, it gets annoying after a while. Going back and forth, back and forth-extremely monotonous after a while. Can't they just stay together for longer than three weeks?" Michael laughed half-heartedly.

"So who's invited?"

"Just the West houses."

"West houses?" I asked.

"See, there are the houses on the west side of campus, then there a houses on the east side. We, Odin House, are on the West, so only the West houses are invited."

"Oh," I replied. I was surprised that no one had told me that last year, it seemed like a pretty big thing to mention. Then again, I never really saw anyone on the west side of campus, just the east side since I had lived at Anubis.

"Did you hear that Amber's throwing a dance? A Winter Formal?" I tried to keep the conversation flowing.

"Nina, of course I heard." Michael held up his phone, showing a text message saying: "FWD: WINTER FORMAL ON DECEMBER 8TH. INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!" There was a little picture of a christmas tree and a wreath of mistletoe under the title. The details that Amber had told me were written beneath it, even the details about what the theme was: A Snowy Midnight.

I raised an eyebrow at the theme. Only Amber would think of such a cheesy theme. At least last year's Prom was basic, it being the end-of-term, which was general enough for people to get any sorts of dresses they want. Now it had to be all sorts of pale colors like peach and ivory and baby blue and silver.

Michael tucked his phone in his back pocket, ruffling his brown hair. "Though we don't talk to the East houses that much, we still hear about major news like that. Hopefully this time we're actually invited instead of having to crash the party."

Surprisingly enough, I laughed. "So you didn't actually go, you and Charlotte, you two _crashed_ the party?"

"Well, the West houses weren't exactly invited. Did you see that many people last year?" When I shook my head, he nodded. "See? So it was only rational thinking."

I stifled a laugh, shaking my head. I began to smell a bit of smoky food wafting from the kitchen. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and help Debbie, I have a feeling that she's going to need it."

~Fabian's POV~

As soon as Nina left, Amber launched into a full-fledged rant about what she wanted for this dance and how many people should be invited, etc. Basically it was Amber last year, for Prom, only ten times worse.

"Fabian, could I talk to you for a bit?" Joy whispered in my ear.

I nodded. She pulled me into my room, shutting the door and locking it behind us. She turned back to me, her dark eyes blazing. I began to speak, but she cut my off,

"Fabian. I really don't like you hanging out with that American girl. I even caught you guys about to kiss. I saw you, she was leaning towards you, Fabes! I swear I saw her leaning towards you. And I don't want to lose you when I just got you, and I can tell you have a connection. Every time you see each other, I can literally see the sparks flying. I mean, it's like love at first sight, and I just- I don't want to lose you, Fabian-"

I stopped her by pressing my lips to hers. I held her firmly around the waist, and Joy's soft hands soon wrapped around my neck. She melted into the kiss, finally sighing with happiness. I pulled away, locking eyes with her, and whispered, "Joy, you're the most beautiful girl I've laid eyes on. Don't forget that."

"Thanks." She smiled her gorgeous smile, then hugged me tightly. "What would I do without you, Fabes?"

"Well, you wouldn't know what the largest star in the universe is." I grinned, pulling away to see her reaction. "And you wouldn't know what the constellations of the world are, or what . . ."

"Oh stop, smart ass," Joy said, playfully smacking me on the shoulder. I laughed, fending off her hits.

"Let's go to supper," I said, taking her hand. She squeezed it in reply as I unlocked the door.

It seemed as if December came too fast. Soon it was two weeks before the Winter Formal dance, and the girls of the house began frazzled messes, fretting over dresses and hair and makeup-all of the things that I was glad I did not need to think about.

"Fabian, Fabian! I'm freaking out. What color looks best on me? Peach blossom or midnight blue or . . ." Joy held up images of models dressed in evening gowns cut out of magazines and fluttered them in my face. Her hair was in a ponytail, but not very accurately. There were several locks that were falling in her face, and only about a third of her hair was actually pinned back.

"Joy, calm down. You're worrying over nothing. Take a deep breath and relax," I told her. I grasped her shoulders, making her look in my eyes.

"Okay, okay. But seriously, what color? What style? Empire waistline, princess sleeves, sweetheart neckline? I meant seriously there are so many different styles it's ridiculous!"

"Uh, why don't you ask Amber? She probably knows more about this stuff than I do."

"Oh right! Great idea, Fabes!" She gave me a peck on the cheek and ran out of my room so fast, I swear I saw smoke coming from her heels. _Girls and their problems_, I thought to myself.

* * *

><p>*= Nina starts the year off at Odin at the beginning of fall, since I think the end of term Prom was in the spring (there was no snow, so it couldn't have been winter!)<p>

Got a bit of info on what Odin House thinks of Anubis, and the other "East" houses. I'm pretty sure that in Ancient Egyptian mythology, the east was the better side to be on, but if anyone can verify that, please let me know!

Total filler chapter, but I had to prepare for the next chapters. There will be major drama from here on out! So I hope you liked it. Next one should be tomorrow. (: See you guys then.

~Ary


	12. Finally, The Truth

Disclaimer: Maison d'Anubis ne posséde pas moi. (I'm pretty sure this is an accurate translation... But it means: "House of Anubis is not mine.")

Also, I updated! Yes, it was late, but I updated! So yay. (:

EVERYTHING IS REVEALED NOW! BE EXCITED...

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><p>Chapter 12: Finally-The Truth<p>

~Nina's POV~

"Hey Nina, do you want to catch a movie with us?" Fabian asked.

I lifted my head up from the pile of homework I still had to do. Michael, Sophia, and I were working on our French and History work together. Fabian, Joy, Patricia, Amber, and Alfie had come along and and joined our little study group. However, they finished quite a lot faster, so they were actually able to go to the movies.

In reply to Fabian's question, I shook my head, saying, "Nah, I have to finish up a page of homework."

"Are you sure you can't go?" he asked, looking disheartened.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Joy was at his side in seconds."Fabes, let's not worry about Nina here. She can take care of herself, right Nina?"

I stared at her. Then, I exchanged glances with Michael, who just shrugged and finished his past tense French verbs homework. I turned back to Fabian, saying, "It's okay. This French homework is harder than usual, so I'm just gonna stay a little longer." I smiled reassuringly at him.

"The French worksheet?" He groaned. "Yeah, it's a little hard. Look under the third worksheet, at the bottom it gives you clues about the last few verbs."

In the back of my mind, I muttered, _Well, I am good with clues. This should be easy, then._ I smiled and replied, "Thanks. Catch you later."

Fabian nodded, walking out with Patricia, Amber, and Alfie. Joy lagged behind, watching me carefully.

Fabian looked back, asking, "Joy? You coming?"

Joy snapped out of her trance, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Oh yeah, Fabes, be there in a second. I'd like a word with our new friend, Nina.

"He looked confused for a moment, looking between the two of us. "Sure. I'll meet you at the front of the theatre, yeah? Call me when you get your ticket, Joy."

Joy walked forward, grabbed Fabian by the front of his shirt and kissed him on the lips. My eyes widened and I started to shuffle my papers around, trying to avoid seeing the couple in front of me. One, it was awkward; two, I still had a few feelings for Fabian, so seeing Joy kiss him was, again, awkward. I heard Sophia huff in annoyance, gather her things into her bag, and walk out of the room. In the corner of my eye, I saw Michael roll his eyes.

They broke apart, Joy's eyelids half-closed with a secret smile on her face. "See you, Fabes," she said. I saw her give the swiftest look back at me, but it must have been my imagination.

He stumbled out of the room, dazed from the kiss. Joy turned back to me, her dark hair falling over her shoulder, with a glint in her eye.

"Why did you come back, Nina?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" I replied.

"Oh, don't play dumb. I know you came back after they found out I was the real Chosen One."

"How do you know that she came back? Wasn't your memory erased?" Michael blurted from beside me. I shot him a _you're-not-helping_ look.

"Hmm, so the two Americans know? Glad you told someone, Nina. This could work to my advantage," Joy murmured to herself.

"What do you want, Joy?" I spat, glaring at her.

"I want to know why you still remember me and Fabian and Anubis house," Joy said in a conversational tone. "You're memory was supposed to be wiped."

"How do you know that?" I exclaimed. I stood up angrily, about to walk up to her and smack her across the face. Michael grabbed my arms, holding me back.

"Well, my dear Nina, _that_ is a secret that must be kept quiet." Her voice was as sickly sweet as rancid honey. It was as if she was baiting me, _wanting_ me to hit her.

"Joy, so help me, I am going to-"

"Going to do what, Nina? Even if you told everyone, they wouldn't believe you. They'd think you're mad." She laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Then she began to examine her manicured nails for any chips or scratches (like that was possible?)

"Do you really think that forming the cup is all this locket can do?" Joy lifted the Eye of Horus from beneath her shirt. She twirled it back and forth in front of my face; she was taunting me, wanting me to grab her and demand answers.

"Let me go, Michael," I insisted. "I want to wipe that smug smile from her face."

"Nina, no. You know that's what she wants you to do," Michael argued, giving Joy a hard look.

She ignored our conversation and continued, still in that annoyingly casual tone, as if we were discussing the latest homework, "No, no, no. Nina, this locket is full of power. It possesses an endless array of abilities. For instance, memory charms."

She cast me a sly look, and I knew it at once."It was _you_?" I gasped.

She laughed once more, giving me a saccharine smile. "_I_ found the elixir that naïve Fabian just tossed in the trash, who hoped that no one would look for it. After that Prom, and that kiss, I only wanted one thing. Fabian, obviously. And sweet revenge.

"On who? You, Nina. You took away my life previously, replacing me as the popular one of the house, as Fabian's girlfriend, as the Chosen One. Sure, it wasn't the best life, but it was mine. I was gone for the year because I was trained to become the one who would form the Cup. To have that other perfect, regular, normal life taken by someone else, my _replacement_, that was _unbearable._ So after I found the Elixir, the Society thanked me, of course, telling me all of the secrets that that woman Sarah had told Victor when they were growing up. Sarah had quite a while to learn about the locket throughout her long life, right? But then the secrets had to die with her, so sad."

"Don't you dare mock Sarah in front of me," I said through gritted teeth.

"What? She was just some mad old woman, thinking that the house was evil. But it wasn't really the house, was it? No. It was the power that overcame her. Only the strongest could control power like this. And Sarah, poor Sarah Frobisher-Smythe, she was so weak-willed, there was no chance for her. Don't you think, Nina?"

"I am going to kill you. How dare you mock her, you whore!" I shouted, finally breaking free of Michael's grasp. I launched myself at her, grabbing her hair and clawing at her face.

"Sarah is five hundred times the person you are. You have no right to say those things about her, you bitch!" I screamed. I could Michael trying to pry my off of her, but it was no use, I was going to make Joy be sorry she even _spoke_ Sarah's name. When he tried grabbing my arm, I hit him away, and he stumbled backwards into the wall of posters, knocking a few to the ground.

Joy was surprisingly strong, and turned me over so that she was on top, pinning my arms down. I struggled against her grip, about to use my head to hit her in the face when her next words stopped me. "Now you know how I feel, Nina dear. Do you feel the pain of not knowing what is going on? Of being replaced? It hurts, doesn't it? It should. And because of all the pain you caused me, I thought I'd return the favor.

"Which reminds me. Now that you know all of this, it can't be getting out that I was the one who erased said-memories. So, I suppose this is goodbye . . . to your memories."

She used one hand to hold my wrists above my head, taking the locket from around her neck and gathered it into her palm, dangling the Eye of Horus above my head. She began to murmur words in a different language, sort of like a chant. Joy began to slowly circle my face with the Eye of Horus, and the locket's center started to glow an eerie red. My eyes were locked on the red light shining from the center, as if I was entranced.

I barely heard Michael shout, "No Nina!" My mind was slowly turning fuzzy, as if I had just taken a few sleeping pills and the medicine was taking effect. Must have been from the memory charm-what charm? What am I talking about?

Suddenly, the red glow was gone, the pressure on my body had disappeared, and I was able to think clearly. Joy had just been about to erase my memory, and probably Michael's too. Wait, where was Michael?

I sat up, pressing a hand to my head where I was beginning to get a massive headache. I turned my head after hearing a few noises to see Michael holding Joy's arms behind her back and holding the locket with the other hand.

"What are you doing, stupid?" she shrieked, trying to squirm out of his hold. I moved forward, taking the locket from Michael's hand. Joy looked helplessly at the locket, knowing she could not take it from my hand.

"How do I reverse the charm, Joy?" I asked.

Though she was outnumbered two-to-one, she simply stared at me with a clever smile. "I'll never tell. You'll never get it out of me."

"Tell me or I will break this locket."

For a split second, I saw a flash of fear in her eyes. But then it was gone, it could have been my imagination. Then that wily look returned to her face and Joy said, "You don't have the guts."

"Try me," I said through my teeth.

She raised her eyebrows in a challenge. I raised my hand to smash the locket to the ground, but a voice stopped me,

"What are you doing?"

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><p>Done! Okay, well now you all know why!<p>

I hope you enjoyed this. I worked hard on it. And I'm not sure if the locket _can_ do these things, but hey, this is Fan FICTION right? So, why not? (:

Thanks for the reviews last chapter. I'll reply to each of you soon, but it's pretty late in my state, so I must go for now!

Please review and I will get the next chapter up ASAP!

~Ary

P.S. Why do I always post chapters at night? I think I have yet to actually submit a new chapter before eight o'clock at night...


	13. Friends No More

Disclaimer: These are getting annoying EVERY SINGLE TIME. Oh well: I don't own HoA.

Thanks for all the reviews. You are all awesome and deserve a cookie. I just don't know how to send them wirelessly... I've tried and I just get a bunch of dough and chocolate on my computer...

Enjoy Chapter 12! (And yes, Nina swears a lot in these chapters, sorry. It seemed appropriate for the situation, so she may be a smidge OC.)

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><p>Chapter 12: Friends No More<p>

Fabian stood at the door, gawking at the three of us. Michael and I exchanged nervous looks, while Fabian continued to stare at all of us in turn.

"What are you doing?" Fabian repeated. "Release her!"

Michael automatically released Joy, and she, being the clever actress she was, ran to Fabian and began to sob into his shoulder. I narrowed my eyes at her, completely seeing through her little ruse.

"Fabes! Thank God, you're here!" Joy sobbed. "They were about to hit me and I didn't do anything wrong!" She pointed a shaking finger at me and Michael. "She started it all! Nina is the cause of our problems! She started it all!"

"Fabian, man you've gotta realize that she's making this up, right?" Michael insisted.

"Why on earth would Joy make something up like that?" Fabian's voice shook with anger. It was frightening because I had only heard him speak like that once, last year when speaking to Rufus; that was not reassuring.

"Yeah, why would I make that up?" Joy asked, her voice high-pitched and squeaky. She looked up with a tear-streaked face, her eyes red and puffy.

"Because you're using him!" I finally exclaimed. I could not take this any longer. How could Fabian be so blind; how could he not understand? When he was researching the locket, there must have been something about memory charms! How could he not know?

"Fabian, see some reason! She is lying to you about me. I never laid a hand on her!" I continued.

"Then explain this, bitch." Joy's voice was shaky and she gestured to herself. Her hair was mussed from where I tried ripping it out, and lines where I had scratched her face. The clear tears traced the ribbons of red and seemed to illuminate them as if they were bleeding. It looked a lot worse than I had actually thought.

"I- That was-" I stuttered, at a lost for words.

Fabian's eyes burned with pure anger. And at first, he did not say anything, and the silence was heavy with tension. I wanted to break it to try and explain the situation, but before I could, he spoke,

"Joy. Could you wait outside, please?" It was not a request.

"Sure, Fabes," Joy said. She walked out, but I noticed her form a sly smile as she walked out. That. Bitch.

As soon as we could not hear her footsteps, Fabian turned to me. He began, "I don't know what happened between you guys, but I want you to make up. Apologize to her."

"Why would I apologize to her? She started all of this!" I shouted.

"Did she hit you first?" When I just replied with a hard look, he added, "That's what I thought. You don't even _know_ her, Nina. How can you judge her by only knowing her for three months? I'll tell you how: you can't.

"After I met you, I swear we had an instant connection. I don't know how, but we did. Then, I heard you lived on the West side, but that didn't seem to matter. You were awesome, one of the nicest people I'd ever met. I thought I knew you. But turns out, I don't-"

"You do know me, Fabian!" I put in. "It's Joy's scheme, she erased your memory! And because of that, you forgot about me-"

"You know you sound mad, right?" Fabian was chuckling. _Laughing at the truth._

The blood in my veins boiled. He did not believe me? He believed everything I said last year, no matter how crazy. Joy must have warped his mind more than I thought. And to laugh at me when I was telling the truth, too!

"I am not crazy. That psychopath you call a girlfriend is the crazy one! She stole your memories and now you don't believe me because she's been telling lies to you!"

"She's telling the truth, Fabian," Michael piped up. Ignoring my statement, Fabian rounded on Michael.

"And you, Michael. Why should I believe you about my girlfriend after hearing about what you did to Charlotte? Joy and Charlotte were friends, you know, and Charlotte's told Joy many things about you that she's told me. You're not very trustworthy, are you?"

Michael's face flushed at Charlotte's name, though his eyes darkened. "What the hell are you talking about? _She_ broke up with _me_! We actually began friends after she dropped Joy and her friends and became human again!"

"See? Joy manipulates everything!" I said.

But again, I was disregarded. Fabian countered, "Joy never did anything! Charlotte was the sweetest thing when she was with Joy! She even helped them with their homework and any issues they had. She was the solution to Charlotte's problems!"

"Joy is not a solution. She's a parasite. She's a bitch. She practically ruined Charlotte's reputation! When Char was with her, she turned into the worst kind of person imaginable."

"Don't call Joy that name," Fabian warned.

Michael continued his rant as if Fabian had not spoken, "After being 'friends' with Joy-or can I even call them friends? No, more like 'slave and master', Joy took total advantage of Charlotte. She used her and then just threw her away when she was done.

"Thank God Sophia and I forgave her, or else Charlotte would have probably disintegrated then and there. It was easy to see that she would have switched schools had it not been for people like Sophia and I. People who are actually friends.

"You know what? Why am I telling _you_ this? Where's Joy, I wanna tell this to her face." Michael began to march toward the door. Fabian sped to the door, blocking it. His face emanated only one message: _Don't you touch, Joy._ As Michael got close, I saw Fabian was about to punch Michael in the face, and pulled him back by the arm.

"What are you doing? This is not helping!" I whispered.

"Nothing. I need to tell Joy off. She needs to hear this," Michael muttered, trying to pull out of my grip.

"Stop! We just need Fabian to trust us, at least for now. Seriously, we can talk about this later!" I let go of his arm, hoping that he would not run at Fabian. Thankfully, he did not make any move to grab him, so I addressed my ex-boyfriend, "Fabian, listen to me. Help me find out what's happened, we can figure it out together! Just like old times!"

For a split second, I swore I saw his eyes soften and twinkle like they used to. But then that was gone, replaced with a cold, callous set of indigo blue irises that were unforgiving. The look petrified me to my very bones, I was shocked to my very core. Fabian had never given me that look.

"I'm sorry. But I can't. Goodbye, Nina. I hope I never see you again," Fabian said quietly. He turned away, leaving my eyes shining with tears and my hope smashed on the ground.

Michael took my hand, giving it a warm squeeze as a show of comfort. I glanced up at him. His mouth was in a hard line, but his brown eyes were gentle and caring. Just like he was.

I decided to do it. Hey, why not? Fabian wanted nothing to do with me anymore, so I might as well ask someone, right?

"What are you doing for the Winter Formal?" I questioned.

He smiled, leading me by the hand to the door. At the door he did not let go of it, but strangely, I was okay with that.

"Nina, I thought you'd never ask," Michael said, smiling widely.

In return, I smiled just as warmly, even though I was hurt and saddened by Fabian's reaction. Michael made me feel warm and content, so it only made sense to go to the dance with him. After all, he was always there for me. _Always_.*

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><p>Dawwwwhhh... Happy ending. (: *runs away*<p>

PUT. AWAY. THE PITCHFORKS! I'M SORRY. I DID THIS FOR A REASON.

Yes, Fabian is being a douche for believing his lying girlfriend. But he does not know better! Remember, memory loss, lies? Yeah, so he's confused, but completely loyal to Joy. No matter how bad the situation is, Fabian is always loyal (he'd totally be a Hufflepuff on Pottermore.)

*: By the way, what is that from? Anyone who can guess gets the next chapter dedicated to them.

Okay, so no Fabina at all. I know, sorry. Just...review and don't kill me, please? Yeah, okay bye.

~Ary


	14. Lies And Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis

I'm back from my long long long break. And I doubt any of you are still here... ): But it's okay because I totally deserve that.

Okay, well enjoy the next chapter. It's sort of a filler, but not really...

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><p>Chapter 14: Lies and Secrets<p>

~Nina's POV~

The party for Tony and Tori was that Friday after the incident with Fabian and Joy. I thought it would just be like Mick and Amber's party last year, so I dressed in a comfortable, dark blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans, regarding that it would probably be cold outside even with all the heat of the lights above.

"Ready to go?" Charlotte asked from the door.

"Yeah, all ready," I said, marching towards the door.

"Uh, do you want to put on some shoes?" she said, eyeing my sock-clad feet.

"Right." I ran back to my bed, sat down and pulled out my black tennis shoes from under the bed. As I slipped them on and began to lace them up, Charlotte's next question made me freeze.

"So, are you and Michael dating?"

I lifted my hands from the laces I was trying to tie to rest on my lap. I tried locking eyes with her, but Char wouldn't meet me gaze. She was constantly fidgeting with her hair: putting it behind her ears, moving it out of her face; fixing her clothes: adjusting her jacket so that it covered the top of her jeans, brushing the fuzz off of them. Each of these things I noted, then realized that she was nervous and uncomfortable with the topic.

"Be honest. Do you still like him?" I replied, keeping my voice level and even.

She finally met my eyes. There was a conflicting storm of emotions that swirled in her pretty brown eyes: a bit of sadness, anger, disappointment, confusion. It was clear that she was not sure what to say next.

"I-I don't know. You've heard my story with Michael, you can see what happened last time. My feelings are really conflicted right now."

"Conflicted? So a part of you does like him," I said. An awkward silence settled between us as we averted our gaze from each other.

"Yes," she admitted honestly.

"Michael said _you_ broke up with _him_," I pointed out.

"Yes, but I was _confused_ back then!" Charlotte cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

"What are you talking about," I asked quietly.

When she was silent, I rose my voice, anger making it ring strong and clear around the room. "So what? You told me the abridged version of your relationship and break-up?"

I stood up swiftly, my shoes already on and tied. "So, you lied to me? Do you still like him?" She was quiet again, and I yanked open the door, about to leave when she spoke up, her voice pleading.

"No, Nina, I didn't lie! Please don't be mad at me, I-I'm just confused, is all!" Even without looking at her, I could tell that she was begging me to stay and talk it out with her.

But why should I talk it out? For her to only feed me more lies? No, I'm tired of people lying to me. I can't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm tired of the lies!" I slammed the door shut, storming down the stairs.

Michael met me at the stairs, giving me a confused smile. "Everything okay with you and Char?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't things be good?" I said through clenched teeth.

"Why are you lying, Nina?" he asked.

"I-I'm not lying," I stuttered.

"Yes, you are. I can tell."

"Look, can we just talk about it later?" This time I was not lying, I genuinely wanted to talk about this later.

He met my eyes, seeing that I was telling the truth about it. "Alright, later. Wanna go to the party?"

"That's why I'm down here, isn't it?" I joked, trying to make him laugh.

It didn't work.

He quietly grabbed my hand, and we walked to the living room, where streamers were hung across the ceiling and party music was blaring through through the house. People were hanging around the main table where drinks were set up, most of the faces that I didn't recognize.

Michael, however, seemed to be totally at home and knew many of these people. They waved to him and smiled kindly at me.

"Hey Addy. Hi Jim. What's up, Cassandra?" he said, greeting the various people I saw.

I gave each of them nods, feeling uncomfortable. When we reached a break in the groups of people, I told him about it. "Um, who are they?"

"Hmm? Oh, just some old friends from the other houses. Do you want me to get you a drink?"

I nodded absentmindedly, and his hand left mine as he walked over to the table. I leaned against the wall, thinking to myself.

I never actually thought about meeting people from the other houses, but I now knew I had to. I guess I had just been so caught up in the Anubis House drama that I just had not addressed the issue, but now I had to.

Michael was back with the drinks, one in each hand. "Here ya go," he said. I took a sip, and he added, "It's apple cider. That's all they left out."

"Oh, cool," I said. Fiddling with the hair tie on my wrist, I continued to think to myself.

After a bit of this, a touch on my arm made me look at Michael. He looked concerned, and I instantly felt guilty that I had not even talked to him for more than five minutes this entire time.

"You okay?" he asked.

I dropped my empty drink in the large trash can set next to the drink table. I took his hand and said quietly, "We need to talk."

I pulled him to the hallway, into his and Alan's room, and closed the door behind us. He sat on the bed, while I turned to face him, pressing my back into the hard wood of the door.

"Tell me how you and Charlotte broke up," I said before he could get in a word. He gave me a bit of a taken aback expression, shocked that I would bring it up.

"Didn't she tell you?" he asked.

"Not really."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, this is a long story."

"We have time."

Michael glanced at me, raising his eyebrows. I walked over to the bed and sat next to him, giving him my full attention.

"In ninth grade, Charlotte came to the school on scholarship, like you. Being the new girl, well, it wasn't easy. And, she didn't have as much money as most of the other students, hence the scholarship. But the fact that she didn't flaunt her money and act like a snob like the rest of them didn't matter to me. She seemed really nice, so I talked to her.

"We soon became friends, and she seemed happy. But it was only for a little while." Michael did not seem angry or frustrated at Charlotte, merely sad about whatever fate she had faced. I was intrigued to learn more.

"Joy Mercer was, and still is, popular, and took notice of her. That was a huge relief to Charlotte; she had always wanted to be popular in this school. But how would she be popular with no money to show? Well, that was easily solved in her eyes-Joy would help her gain a status. They would be 'best friends' and hang out together and be loved by everyone.

"It was easy to see that Joy was being manipulative-all because Charlotte was so desperate to be noticed and popular. She just dropped me and all of her other friends for Joy and her friends. They went to parties, shopped at the most exclusive stores; Charlotte followed like a rejected dog, vying for affection.

"That's when Sophia started to notice the changes in Charlotte. Joy was beginning to work her like a slave: making her finish all of her friends' homework, doing their laundry, getting their lunches from across the campus. And Charlotte was totally oblivious to what she was doing, only really living in the new highs of her life. Every other time, she would just be a little mindless servant, doing Joy and her friends' bidding for just a time in the lime light."

Michael shook his head, sighing again. He stood up and began walk back and forth across the room, seeming to try and clear his head. He continued, though in a rush.

"All of her old friends, including me, Sophia, and Alan, all tried talking her out of it. Even Tori and Mitch realized that she was being used, and it had to be really extreme for them to notice anything outside of their own little worlds. But Charlotte would not listen, she was totally encompassed in her popular world where she was one of Joy's friends and adored by all.

"But she continued to resist listening, so Alan suggested I talk to her. Our circle of friends agreed, knowing that I had already taken a major liking to her. And it was true, I really did like her-I liked her a lot actually. I guess I could say that I was in love with her."

He shook his head again, his brown hair flapping around his face. I didn't even flinch when he said he loved her, I wasn't really surprised after all they had been through. He exhaled again, pressing the heels of his hands to his temples. It was like talking about this was really stressful to him. I began to feel bad that I brought it up.

"But by that time, the year had already ended, and we all had to come home and await the next year to change anything about our situation. I secretly hoped that the span of time away from Joy would be good for Charlotte, that it would allow her to clear her head and think rationally about her situation.

"That fall, we all came back. And sadly, Charlotte had not changed. If anything, she seemed to work harder to please Joy. Maybe Charlotte thought that the time away had made her less popular, so she needed to make up for those last few months of summer to ensure that she had stayed popular.

So then the day after our winter break, I went up to her and told her the truth. I would never forget that day, not in a million years. That she was being used at every moment of her life, that being popular was not what she needed. We would welcome her back into our group with open arms, so when she left Joy, she would be able to still have friends. Friends that actually cared about her well-being and would actually be kind to her. I told her that we needed her to come back, that _I_ needed her."

I walked up to him, putting a hand on one of his shaking shoulders. He had a hand clamped over his eyes, but I saw a tear running down his cheek.

"You don't have to continue. I think I know the ending," I softly told him. He slowly shook his head, gulping in air as if to swallow back the tears. He raised his chin, swiping a hand across his face, but I could still see his eyes were red.

"No. I don't think you know the ending. Charlotte looked at the gift as if she liked them, which gave me some hope. The gift was a shell necklace with a pelican engraved onto it." When I gave him a quizzical look, he just waved his hand, sending the message, _Long story._ "She walked away, and I was about to tell the news to everyone, but then Joy appeared."

It was completely stupid of me, but I actually gasped a little. Michael looked at me, giving a small half-laugh, like he couldn't believe I was actually so surprised that Joy had come back into the picture.

"Joy literally laughed in my face and told me that she couldn't believe I actually thought that Charlotte had become one of us again. She told me that Charlotte had played me, taking the gift and throwing them away. Joy said that Charlotte would never love me, and that I should just forget about her completely. In reply, I told Joy that I wanted Charlotte to tell me that herself because all that she says is a lie. Joy smiled serenely at me, as if this was no problem and that Charlotte would back her up.

"The next day, she approached me, saying the same thing that Joy told me. It sent daggers through my heart as she said it, shattering it to pieces. She said that I was too good for her and that she didn't need me. I was nothing more than a piece of old clothing to her, worthless and unnecessary.

"Though my heart was broken, I still tried to sway her back to my side, calling her all kinds of names. And that's when she did it. She laughed right in my face and walked off. I went in the opposite direction, but noticed someone standing in the trees. A girl with dark hair and a smirk plastered on her face."

"Joy," I said aloud.

Michael nodded. "She was smiling like everything in her world was perfect. And I guess then, everything was."

I hugged him from behind, pressing my face into his back and trying to emanate my empathy. But apparently Michael wasn't done, because his next words made me pull my arms away from him. He turned to face me, his eyes no longer red from crying, but a bit pink.

"After Spring Break, however, Joy revealed her true colors to Charlotte. She was shown to be a bitch, what me and Sophia and Alan had all told her about, and Charlotte was knocked from Joy's side to the ground and left to wallow in self-pity.

"Sophia and Alan and the rest of our friends had forgotten about Charlotte, so were not there to pick her up and help her back on her feet. But I still cared for her and helped her up, though I had put up walls around me so that I could never really love her again.

"Charlotte apologized to me, saying that I was right and that she couldn't believe how blind she had been. I accepted her back into our group, and slowly, very slowly, she began to turn into a real friend again. She turned into herself again."

Michael sat down on his bed, sighing as if talking about it caused him physical pain. I grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently, and whispered, "Do you wanna go back to the party?"

He nodded. I tilted his chin up, looking into his amazing brown eyes. They were no longer pink, there was no evidence of his crying earlier before. No one would know what had happened in this room-a good thing, because I have a feeling that not many outside of Odin knew this story.

A loud yell of "How could you do this?" was heard from the living room.

Both Michael and I stood up abruptly, surprised. Was that Tori's voice I heard? I unlocked the door, and we rushed out to find a crying Tori and a solemn Tony near Tony's room surrounded by a crowd of people.

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><p>Had to add this. More tomorrow! Sorry, short end note, but I have to go soon. Please review or just read and enjoy! (:<p>

~Ary


	15. Breakups

Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis or Odin House and its characters.

Hey guys, I honestly can't believe the amount of positive reviews that came back. You guys are absolutely amazing, I could not ask for better readers. (: I can't believe you guys still read this, I'm such a bad updater and I'm just not that good at writing myself (look at early chapters for evidence)... But thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy this filler because tomorrow there is going to be more and it's when the real drama begins. The dance is next, where everything starts to fold together.

By the way, tonight I'm not going to be able to update anymore. My stomach is really hurting and I just feel bad in general. I'm gonna try getting sleep and drinking tea, but I am determined to update tomorrow.

Please enjoy, oh and to the flamer from last chapter, a special A/N just for you at the end.

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><p>Chapter 15: Breakups<p>

~Charlotte's POV~

I heard Tori's shout even with the door locked and my head covered in pillows.

Honestly, that girl's voice could ring clear through a sound-proof tank's walls, it was so loud. I dug myself out of my mess of pillows, fixed my hair so it wasn't falling into my face, and hurried down the stairs.

There was already a big group of people around the scene, but there was one side sort of left open, as if it was an easy exit for Tori to get out from. With everyone crowding around her and she being easily claustrophobic, I wouldn't blame her if she left as soon as possible.

I wove in and out of the crowd to get to the front, and no one really looked at me or saw me-this was the advantage of being slim and small, no one cared if you got between them in a crowd because you didn't take up so much space that they would notice.

Tori was on the ground, crying her eyes out, with a solemn Tony standing beside her, not patting her back, whispering words of comfort to her, nothing. Just standing there. It looked like they were worlds apart instead of mere feet apart.

I spotted Nina and Michael standing near the front and went over to them. I wedged myself between Michael and another person from Orion House, who glared at me but moved aside. Nina gave me a look from Michael's other side, and turned back to the scene, saying nothing. So she was still mad at me. I'd have to talk to her after this party.

"Michael, what's going on?" I whispered.

He shrugged, whispering in reply, "I don't know. Just got here."

But I didn't need to ask anything else because Tori finally spoke in a choked voice.

"Tony, why are you doing this now? At the party?" she asked.

"What, so you want to wait until this party is over to deal with it? We might as well do at now instead of later! What's the difference?" he almost shouted.

Tori shakily stood up, her designer black suede jacket was falling off her shoulders, revealing the straps of her navy blue dress. Her hair that was usually so naturally wavy and curly was now slightly frizzy around her face. She looked up at him with tear-covered cheeks, looking like a kicked puppy wanting to come back home.

I'd never seen her like this, not in the three years I had known her. She had always been strong and powerful, never really showing any emotions or just being very cool and level-headed.

It was really odd to see her so wrecked and torn apart, and Tony was the cause of it. Of course he was, it was easy for anyone to see that he didn't care about Tori. Like Sophia said, "Tony and Tori are about as opposite as red and blue. The only thing they have in common is that they're rich and their names sound similar." Speaking of which, where was Sophia?

I looked around for the blonde, but she was nowhere to be seen. Where could she have gone? It was snowing outside, frigid cold and not the weather for running. I pushed my thoughts to the side and focused on the scene in front of me.

"I thought you cared about me. We just got back together. What did I do wrong?" she asked.

"You did nothing wrong, it was me."

"Oh _silenzio_! You know that is the oldest trick in the book, and it will not work on me! Tell me the real reason, _idiota_!" She was yelling in Italian now, but small words and phrases that even I knew. Some of it was pretty close to French, which I've taken almost my entire life, so I could still understand what she was saying.

Tony regarded her coldly, saying nothing. There was an awkward tension in the air for the longest time, and everyone in the crowd seemed to hold their breath. He said something, so quietly that I think only Tori heard it. Then Tori buried her face in her hands while Tony addressed the crowd.

"Everyone who doesn't live here. Please leave. Now." His voice had this commanding tone that I had never heard from the suave, yet very annoying Tony.

The crowd dispersed, leaving only me, Michael, and Nina standing together, while Tori stayed in the middle, crying, and a girl with big blonde hair was clutching Tony like a lifeline. She didn't seem to want to leave. Mitch was in another corner, looking at the scene with his arms crossed, which was also odd because he never really got involved in this sort of school drama.

After the door closed behind the crowd of people, the only student not from Odin House was the blonde girl.

She was holding onto him from the back, looking at him like she was already in love. And then I knew what had happened. It was so easy to figure out, just by looking at them.

Tony had cheated on Tori with this blonde girl. And I think Tori realized this as well, since she stared at the girl for a long time and then rushed up to grab her by her bare shoulders.

"What have you done to him?" Tori shouted at her face. "You disgust me-what do you have that I do not? Blonde,` from a bottle and dyed horribly; freckly and pale-skinned, from sun-damage and not enough Vitamin D: what have you got? I am a beautiful, pure-blooded Italian woman, I am Victoria Dicce. You are no match for me!"

I rushed forward, gently prying her hands off of the girl's shoulders. They were like vices, and left red marks on the pale skin of the blonde's shoulders. "Tori, relax," I said in her ear.

There were tears streaming down her face, but of course there was no black smudges from eyeliner and mascara because Tori had obviously bought the waterproof products. I pulled her to the side, away from the now-frightened blonde, who was shying away from Tori and into Tony's arms.

"Elise, would you please just leave for a bit. I'll talk to you later," Tony said, pushing the girl to the side.

"No, I need to teach this bitch a lesson!" The other girl, Elise apparently, said, looking as if she was going to lunge at Tori. Tony held her back, looked fiercely between the two girls.

"Seriously. Get out. Now. I'm sick of dealing with this girl drama.

She looked sadly at him, almost desperately wishing he had asked her to stay. "But, Tony . . ." Her voice was broken, and I was wondering if she was going to break down and cry like Tori.

"Would you please just leave?" he said harshly. She flinched and even I could feel the brittleness that his voice radiated. He was so mean to her, yet she was still so in love with him. Why?

"A-Alright," the girl said, sighing dejectedly.

Tori began speaking in rapid Italian but from what I could tell by her hand gestures, she was saying to get out of this house. And yelling an insult at her.

"Tori, will you please shut up!" Tony snapped after the girl had closed the door. Tori stared at him, startled. "I actually know what you're saying."

Tony spoke Italian? Well I guess that was how he won Tori's heart in the first place. Speak the same language as someone and it does reach their heart, from some famous person that I can't remember the name of.

"Why Tony? Why now? What did I do?" Tori asked.

"Well, I honestly felt we did not have any chemistry. You're nothing more to me than a sister," he said calmly.

Tori just gazed at him sadly, hopelessly, like her world had just ended. It reminded me of how I felt last year as Joy tossed me aside like trash, not caring what happened to me or even if I was alive the next day. I wondered if she would be full of anger like me and be hoping for revenge someday, or just left as an empty shell and trying to live each day like before. It seemed she would be taking the former choice, because she picked herself up and ran at him.

She turned him around, grabbed him by the shirt front, and pressed her lips to his. He was surprised, that was easy to see, but he didn't pull away immediately. She was the one to push him back, and stared into his eyes to see if there was any reaction.

He stared back at her, not showing any emotions. He shook his head slightly, saying he felt nothing. She shoved him angrily aside, screaming, "_Dio!"_ and running upstairs.

Tony lifted himself away from the wall he was pushed into, looking at who was left. We all exchanged glances, and I finally got a good look at Mitch to see his reaction.

"That was not cool, Tony," Mitch said. He barely spoke ever, why now? Did he like Tori? my mind raced with questions.

Tony shrugged nonchalantly, as if he couldn't help it. What couldn't he help? How did he cheat on her?

"You shouldn't have done that with Elise, it completely devastated Tori. You saw how she reacted, how could you do that?" Mitch asked.

"Wait, what did you see, Mitch?" Michael spoke up. I had forgotten he and Nina were there, they had been so quiet.

Mitch turned his dark eyes to the two of them, saying, "I saw him snogging Elise outside."

"What?" Nina exclaimed.

He nodded. "I was going to go out to relax for a bit, but there he was, snogging her, and Elise didn't even give a damn. They were even going farther than snogging, weren't you?" He turned to glare at Tony.

"What? It's not like Tori actually liked me that much," Tony remarked.

"Tony, you and I know that Tori liked you a lot more than you give her credit for," Michael said, his tone sounding dangerous.

Tony shrugged again, which really pissed me off. I walked right up to him and went right into his face. "You are such a bastard. How could you do that to her?"

"I did what I thought was right," was his reply.

"You only do things that benefit yourself."

"Do I?"

"Yes, you do."

He looked down at my face, so close to his, and said, "Do you want to snog me right now?"

I pulled away. "Ew, no. You are such a pig."

"I'm just living my life. It's Tori's fault that she's been so attached to me. Like I said, she's nothing more than a sister to me."

I shook my head. "You are just, unbelievable."

"Of course I am," he said. And he waltzed away, back into his room.

I turned back to Mitch, who stared after Tony, his eyes narrowed. "What happened?" I asked.

Mitch began, "I was getting out of my room for a bit, you know for fresh air, when I see Tony walking with this girl that's not Tori. I knew something was going on because I knew the girl, Elise, who was dating someone in Orion House but was known to cheat on her boyfriends.

"So I grabbed Tori, because I knew she would want to know. He and Elise were outside, snogging, so when Tori saw, she grabbed him, crying. Then, the crowd formed. And you know the rest," he concluded.

"God, Tony is just a git. He needs to learn some lessons in how to be polite to a girl," Michael said.

"Wait, where's Nina?" I asked.

"I- Did she go up to Tori's room?" Michael wondered, confused.

"I don't-" I started, but cut myself off because I just ran up the stairs to find Nina.

I opened the door of our room, no one there. I went over to Tori and Sophia's room and opened the door. Wow, I haven't been in here in so long. Has that poster always been there of that one football player that Sophia is in love with? Was there always a spinning chair in the corner? Where did that lava lamp come from?

I saw Tori crouching on her bed, sobbing, and Nina was rubbing her back and whispering soothing words to her. I sat down on the bed next to her, and Nina looked up, giving me a glare. I narrowed my eyes, trying to tell her that I wanted a truce for now. She nodded her head slightly and continued to talk to Tori.

I rubbed her shoulder, too, saying, "You don't deserve him, Tori. You're great, you don't deserve him."

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><p>Okay, so if my Italian is pure crap, I am so sorry. I used Word Reference for all of it. I only know a few Italian words... <em>Ciao, Grazie, Prego, Bienvenue<em>...

To Sibuna:

Your review was more annoying than hurtful, mainly because it was completely vague:

"bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch i was glad that you hadn't updated this piece of crap in a while. but now this bullshit is back..."

If you have to flame me, then give me good reasons why you dislike/hate my story, give me some good reasons. I may be able to improve it for the people who actually like it. Don't just flame for no good reason. And don't leave an anonymous name if you're not brave enough to reveal your username. if you don't want to read my story, then fuck off.

Thanks,

~Ary

All of you other readers and reviewers, you guys are amazing. Happy New Year to everyone in 2012, and to everyone in 2011 like me, Happy New Year's Eve. I only have about ten minutes until midnight! (: Don't forget to make New Year's Resolutions and drink apple cider and light fireworks!


	16. A Stern Talking To

I'm tired of these disclaimers... I'm not going to claim I own House of Anubis. To read the exact disclaimer, please see any of the previous chapters. (:

GRRRR. I HATE FILLER SO MUCH BUT I NEED TO WRITE SO MUCH MORE AND I NOW HAVE HOMEWORK AND BALLET... I'm sorry guys, I know I promised better stuff, but it's not... This is just showing that the tables have turned in Anubis House, and if you have NO idea why Joy and Fabian are fighting, PLEASE read my other story titled "Christmas Special." It actually involves Only A Dream? content, which leads to this chapter and explains a lot. You don't even have to review it (though I would love if you did), but just read it to know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for sticking with me... Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 16: A Stern Talking To<p>

~Mara's POV~

You could hear Fabian and Joy fighting from his room even way up here on the second floor. Well, it was mostly Joy screaming at him, but Fabian did speak up a few times. They had been going on for hours and hours, my head was aching so much I knew I would need a bit of pain medication soon.

In my opinion, I think it was Alfie and Jerome who pushed the two of them together. I don't think Nina or Fabian snogged the other, they were both in a relationship so what would be the point of ruining it? Even though I didn't know her that well, I automatically knew that Nina was not a cheater. She was too nice of a person to do that, especially to Michael Rizzo, who had been through enough drama last year with that girl Charlotte.

I put my hands to my ears and glanced at my roommate, Amber, who was humming to herself and reapplying her makeup. She looked perfectly calm, as if our two housemates were not screaming at each other downstairs.

"How can you stand this?" I asked her.

Amber glanced at me, took out her earphones from her ears, and said, "What?"

"You've been listening to music this entire time?" When she nodded, I said, "Do you have another pair?"

"Oh, sure," she replied, digging around in her drawer for a set of pink earphones. As she handed them to me, I knew that I didn't even care that they were pink, one of my least favorite colors, I just needed a bit of peace from this arguing.

Plugging the earphones into my phone, I turned on one of my studying playlists and sighed in relief as the music droned out the angry fighting. I took out my notebook and began to read over my English assignment.

A few minutes later, however, the door burst open and hit the wall, the noise loud enough to hear over the music. Both Amber and I looked up, seeing a tearful Joy Mercer storm inside.

"Where's Patricia?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"In your room. Are you oka-" I started to ask, but Joy had already bolted for the other room before I could finish.

I stood up quickly, my earphones falling out with the music still blaring, still heard though on the ground below me. I heard a slow, sad melody being played and thought how strangely fitting the music went with the current situation.

I knew Amber had followed because I heard her slippers shuffling along the hardwood floor of the corridor as we made our way to Joy and Patricia's room.*

I knocked softly on the door, and sobbing was heard from the other side, along with Patricia whispering soothing words of comfort. I pushed the open slightly, and Patricia didn't throw a hairbrush at it in a message of "Get out" like she would if she was upset, so I knew I was allowed to enter.

Amber sat on the ground, near Joy's legs and leaned her head against one of them. She just stared into space, a sad, empty look in her eye. And Joy continued to cry, not taking notice of Amber or anyone around her: just trapped in her own depressed, confused world.

"It wasn't Nina's fault," I murmured quietly, breaking the tense and uneasy silence that had only been interrupted by Joy's crying.

Joy lifted her head up, a few sniffs remaining but her sobs long gone. The only real evidence that she had been crying was the redness of her face and eyes and the black tracks of tears that had run down her face. Amber moved away from Joy, glancing up to see what the other girl would do. Patricia even stopped rubbing Joy's shoulder to see what would happen.

I had a feeling that I should have just kept my mouth quiet.

Joy approached me, said nothing for a moment, then, so quick I barely saw it happening, she slapped me across the face. Softly in my ear, she seethed with anger in her voice, "How dare you say that. I'm one of your closest friends . . . and you choose her over me?"

I blinked once, putting a hand to my now stinging cheek. I shook my head. "I can say whatever I want, you have no control over me. You need to learn to look at the real picture and not blame the first person you see or dislike. I can't believe I was ever friends with you-a selfish twit who only cares about herself."

Once I was finished, Joy stared at me, her brown eyes huge. I could see Patricia and Amber also stared at me, absolutely shocked that I had stood up to Joy. I looked right back at her, and then I saw Joy raise another shaky hand to hit me again.

I grabbed her wrist with my free hand, leaving me holding it at an awkward angle, but I could still contain the force that she was trying to exert by attempting to get out of my hold.

"Don't you dare hit me," I said, my voice sounding strong and powerful.

I tossed her hand to the side, resting my arm back to my side. Amber leaped up, out of nowhere, and began her own rant to Joy.

It involved shoes, "What would Victoria Beckham do?", how Joy thought she was just some dumb blonde with no brain to use, and another thing about apricots. The rest of us looked quizzically between the two, very confused about what their history and arguments were. But there was no time for that, for now we had to just leave this room and sort out what had just happened.

I pulled Amber out by the arm, her blue eyes still blazing ferociously, and then turned soft as she checked out my red cheek. "Here, let me get some ice for that," she said, turning to run down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I was honestly very touched because this was one of the first nice things she had done for me all year. She returned with a bag of ice with a paper towel wrapped around it, which I applied to my cheek. I let out a small sigh as the cold leeched out the burning pain from the slap.

"Sorry," Amber said sheepishly. "There were no cold packs left in the fridge, so I had to make my own . . ."

"It's fine," I replied with a smile. "Thanks, Amber." And I hugged her, feeling that this was the best way to the end of term: to reform my friendship with Amber.

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><p>Okay, I swore I would get another chapter in today. But it was a bad chapter, I know... Expect an update tomorrow!<p>

Oh, and the *: I'm using the old house arrangements, yes, because Nina never came and though Mara and Amber fought, they never went as severe as switching rooms. Patricia and Joy would have stayed together no matter what, so...yeah wouldn't have worked.

Please review...but you don't have to because this was a bad chapter... I'm sorry! But read the "Christmas Special" one, seriously... Everything will make sense afterwards.

~Ary


	17. The Final Showdown Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis. I would say I don't own Odin House and its characters, but its not mentioned _once_ in this chapter, so I don't think it's needed.

Did everyone see the sneak peek of the Season 2 premiere this...er, last night at 8:30pm? I watched it, really excited but I still hate the cliffhangers at the end of every episodes. Now we have to wait until Tuesday!

There are three chapters until the end, we're almost finished, guys! ): Now enjoy Chapter 17!

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><p>Chapter 17: The Final Showdown Part 1<p>

~Patricia's POV~

The rest of the day was full of Joy grabbing old photos of her and Mara and ripping them apart, separating her and Mara with each rip. And every time she tore one apart, she would swear under her breath, probably at her ex-friends.

After she was halfway through the photo album Amber had created and there was a small pile of destroyed photos next to it, I grabbed Joy's hands, forcing her to look at me.

"What are you doing? Are you honestly that mad at Fabian that you would take it out on your friends? You probably don't even have a friendship anymore," I reasoned.

"Don't tell me your turning on me, too," Joy muttered.

"I'm not. I just think you should have cooled off a bit before screaming at Mara," I replied.

She gave me a coy smile, and said, "Well, maybe you should have locked the door so I didn't have to see Mara's face. Who's fault is it now?"

"Are you blaming _me_ for this mess?" I stared at her, surprised and a little annoyed that she would accuse me for this.

"Patricia, I'm not. Like you said, I'm just so mad about her kissing Fabian, I don't know what to do. He told me that he still loved me, but I-I could see he was thinking of something else . . ."

"Some_one_ else," I corrected.

She shot me a look, but nodded. "I really think he is starting to remember his old life," she said.

I remembered that she had told me about how she had hypnotized, or I suppose, "charmed," everyone in the house that Nina never existed. She had kept me with my own memory because I was her best friend, and she knew I could keep a secret.

Sure, the way she had gotten everyone to like her again and Fabian as her boyfriend had been conniving and selfish, but I had to say that I was impressed. It was very smart to use the locket and I had to credit her for acting so well in front of everyone.

But the way she had been acting around Mara and Amber, it was easy to see that she was going to break soon. Thank goodness our winter holiday was soon, then we would be able to relax and Joy could knock off the acting skills. If any more drama happened, I knew something would go wrong, and our cover would be blown. I had nothing to worry about, though, everything would be under control . . .

"Patricia! Are you listening to me?" Joy's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I sort of just spaced out. What were you saying?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said, brushing it off. I raised an eyebrow but forgot about it.

She sat at the desk that she had turned into a makeshift vanity, and began to put on lipgloss. While she was doing that, I fiddled with my dangling earrings. When she finished slathering on some lipgloss, she locked eyes with me in the mirror.

"You'll keep my secret-won't you, Patricia?" And I nodded. Because that's what best friends did.

. . .

The day of the dance, the girls of the house were split down the middle. Amber and Mara were getting ready together, while Joy and I were by ourselves. But that was okay, it was better not to hear Amber prattling on about this and that and the next thing. Mara was no help either, she was useless with makeup and hair, it was a surprise that she could even lace up those boots or even put on that much makeup when she was in her "bad girl" phase.

I helped Joy with her hair, curling it and letting the brown locks cascade over her shoulders. I actually did have a pretty good talent for doing hair, not like I would admit that to anyone but her. I fixed my own hair, straightening it as usual from its normal messy frizz that always happened when I woke up and in the middle of the day. Joy painted a smoky look for her eye while I added just a bit of dark, dramatic makeup to my own face.

"How do I look?" I asked, pursing my lips to add on some darker lipstick.

In the mirror, Joy shook her head. "Too dark. Try some red."

I grabbed a tissue and rubbed my lips, taking off the dark shade. I picked up another that read "Cherry Red" and decided to try it. It turned out badly, resulting in me smearing it off of my lips with a tissue.

"I've tried red, and it doesn't work. What do you recommend?"

"Try some neutral pinks," Joy suggested, dabbing on a bit of blush to her cheeks.

I gave her an odd look, not thinking that _pink_ of all colors would work. I tried a few, but none seemed to match. "Aw, screw it," I exclaimed. "I'm just gonna use some lipgloss."

Joy shot me a disapproving look, probably thinking that I should do something more than lipgloss for the dance. I disregarded her look and stood up to grab my dress from its hanger.

"Gonna get your own dress on?" I asked as I saw her lying around lazily.

"I'm just gonna finish painting my nails," she said, picking up a few bottles of nail polish and waltzing out of the room so that our room would not spell like acetone from the polish.

I slipped on my dress, one that Amber had forced me to buy. But actually, I kind of liked it. It was dark purple with thick straps, a sash, and a bow at the waist, and made of a really nice, sort-of silky material. I turned in the mirror, seeing myself from all viewpoints. I honestly thought it was really comfortable, and I . . . I really liked it.

"Nice, Trixie," Joy approved, reentering the room. I started, turning around to face her.

"Aw, thanks," I replied sarcastically. I looked around for my silver pumps, since Amber insisted that I choose the color of the shoes based on the little gem on the bow. I really don't know why, but then again, I really don't understand Amber or her fashion.

"Shut up, you look great," Joy said, reaching under my bed and handing me the heels. I slipped them on, walking around in them to make sure nothing was pinching my toes or the shoes were not on the wrong foot.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as I was reassured that everything was good with my shoes. I looked outside and saw that the sky was already dark. "I'm gonna go ask Trudy for a sweater, meet me downstairs?"

She nodded, taking her dress off of its hanger as I closed the door.

I walked down the stairs and saw Mick standing beside Amber, his arm thrown casually around her shoulders. He whistled when he saw me. I raised an eyebrow, but smiled anyway.

"Shouldn't you be complimenting your girlfriend, not me?" I said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Patricia, he already did," Amber said, grinning from ear to ear. "And he's right, you do look great! I told you that the dress would be great!"

"It's not bad," I replied.

"Don't be so modest, you look great," Mara added from behind me.

"I thought you weren't talking to me?" I asked.

"I'm not talking to Joy, but I think it's okay to talk to you. You're not Joy, right?" Mara said.

I grinned. "Wow, nice comeback. You're getting more like me every day."

"Thanks, Patricia. That's a nice compliment," Mara said drily.

"No problem. You look nice, by the way," I complimented. Mara had a strapless, dark blue dress made of chiffon, I think it's called, with a blue bow at her waist. Her hair was really curled today, and pulled back behind her head in a half-up, half-down style.

Mara smiled, and Jerome walked over, looking dashing in a sleek black tuxedo with a black bow tie at his neck and a purple rose corsage. "For you," he said, offering it to her.

Amber sighed while saying "aww" as Mara wrapped the corsage around her wrist and gave Jerome a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Jerome. It's gorgeous."

I saw Mick shoot Jerome a dirty look, but Alfie walked out and smiled at me, diverting my attention. "Hey Trixie."

"Hi Alf-" I started.

"I'm here!" Joy exclaimed from the top of the stairs. We all turned to her, and in black stilettos, a small black flower in her hair, and a tight black dress, she looked, um, different.

Everyone around me turned away, trying to busy themselves with something else. Mara and Amber began talking while Mick kind of just looked over Joy, then began to play with the cufflinks on his jacket. Jerome and Alfie began to chat, leaving me to talk to my best friend.

"So, you think Fabes'll be impressed?" Joy asked, gesturing to her outfit.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "You guys are still together?"

"Of course we are," Joy said with a half-laugh.

"Well, I just sorta assumed that you had broken up. What with the fighting and the tears . . ." I trailed off after seeing Joy's amused expression.

"Patricia, you should know to never assume things about me," she said. "I mean, you thought I was dead during that mystery last term-"

"You died?" Amber shrieked.

We swiveled around to face the blonde whose eyes were wide with surprise. "What?" all of us said in unison.

"You just said that Joy-" she lowered her voice to a whisper- "died. Did she?"

"No, I didn't. I mean I just died from eating Trudy's end-of-term dinner. Remember that roast beef? So. Good."

"Oh, right!" Amber said smiling. Everyone in the room seemed to let out a breath, and tension dissolved.

"Like I said," Joy said, her voice now low so no one would hear us again. "Never assume anything about me. Sure, Fabes and I may have had a little fight, we may not be going to the dance _together_, per say, but we will be back together. By tonight, we will be a couple again."

"I'll take your word for it," I replied.

"Time to go! Time to go!" Trudy chirped, flitting around us, doing last-minute touches on the guys' tuxedo jackets or the girls' hair.

"Alright," she said, tears in her eyes. "Time for you all to go. You're all so grown-up . . ."

"Aww, don't worry, Truds! We'll come back and live with you for the rest of our lives if that's what you want," Alfie said, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

A flash of fear flew through her eyes, and everyone must have caught it because we all burst out laughing. But Trudy just smiled and hugged Alfie, shaking her head.

We all walked out into the frigid, winter air and I automatically shivered. Then I remembered I forgot about asking Trudy for a sweater, and I regretted it. I would be an icicle by the time I reached the dance.

I wrapped my arms around my bare shoulders and glanced around. All of the girls were wearing coats or their dates' jacket. But wait, where was Amber and Mick?

I slowed my walking to stay in pace with Mara and Jerome. Joy peered back at me with narrowed eyes and I nodded to her, telling her to go on, that I would be there in a second. Joy shrugged and continued on, leaving me to talk to Mara.

"Hey guys, where are Mick and Amber?" I asked.

"Oh, they were there waiting to talk to Fabian and get him to go to the dance," Mara replied.

"I doubt they'll be able to. When Fabian's in this sort of mood, he's too stubborn to listen to anyone. Besides Joy, I mean," Jerome commented.

"I wonder how they're doing-" But I was interrupted by a buzz from my purse. I took out my phone and read the message from Amber. "Uh, Amber wants you to text her back."

"Huh?" Mara asked. She looked down at herself, realizing that she had forgotten a purse and, evidently, her phone. "Oh, I must have left it at the house."

I texted the message back to Amber, and less than a minute later, she replied, _Can some1 go back 2 the house? Help!_

I shared the message with Jerome and Mara, who sighed, shaking their heads at the situation. I couldn't believe how stubborn Amber was, she was determined to get Fabian to that dance under any circumstances.

"I'll go back. Tell Joy that I'm just gonna get Fabian, yeah?" I said. Mara and Jerome and continued walking as I rushed back to the house.

My heels clacked against the pavement as I speed-walked back to the house. Then I slowed down because I was out of breath from inhaling the cold air.

I reached the door, opened it, and heard Amber shout, "You are coming to that dance, Fabian Rutter!"

I saw Amber-in her light blue dress and black heels, looking very pretty and ready to be crowned queen of everything-banging on Fabian's door and looking like an angry dragon, about to spew fire.

"Amber, I'm not going. I don't want to," Fabian said through the door.

"Dammit, you are going, Fabian!" Amber screamed. "This is supposed to be a great evening! You should be standing there with Joy and slow-dancing like in the movies! _This is supposed to be perfect!_"

"Amber! Relax!" I said, running forward and grabbing her arms, pinning them behind her back. She thrashed in my hold, her face red while growling and attempting to stomp on my feet with her pointy heels.

"That stupid boy needs to get out and have a good time!" she exclaimed.

"Ambs, babe, you need to calm down. He's not coming out there," Mick said.

"Oh, yes, he is. Let go of me, Patricia!" Amber said.

"What're you going to do?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Kick open the door," she replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, alright," I said, releasing her arms.

Amber screeched out something like a warrior cry, taking a stance. But hurried steps ran down the stairs, shrieking, "No, no! Don't do it!"

Trudy appeared at the steps, out of breath. "Please . . . don't . . . break the door!"

"Why not?"

"I have the master key!" Trudy presented a silver key in hand.

"Okay, can you open the door?"

Trudy nodded, sighing in relief. It was easy to see that she was glad that Amber would not be breaking anything of the house. She inserted the key into the lock, twisted it, and a soft click indicated the door was now open. Amber opened it, grabbed Fabian by the collar and began to shake him wildly.

"A-Amber, please don't break Fabian," Trudy pleaded.

"Ple-ee-eease sto-op, A-Am-ber!" Fabian attempted to say while being shaken.

"Fabian Rutter, you better come with me to this dance or I will personally steal all of your science books in the middle of the night and burn them to ashes!" Amber growled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chill, Amber!" Mick grabbed his girlfriend's arms and pinned them behind her back like I had earlier. She was fuming and it really scared me. Amber was not a nice person when she threw a tantrum.

Fabian stared at her, wide-eyed, and stumbled back onto his bed in fright. Trudy helped him up, straightening his jacket and fixing his bow tie.

"If you weren't going, why are you all dressed up?" I asked.

"I am dressed up because I was planning on going, but talked myself out of it," he said.

"Oh," I said. "Well, come on, then. Joy's waiting, and she is expecting you to be her date to-"

"I don't want to go there with Joy," Fabian said, startling me with the forcefulness ringing in his voice.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You heard us fighting. We broke up."

"That will knock you down? C'mon, mate, I've seen you go through girl trouble before. Remember when you forgot Joy's birthday?" Mick asked.

Fabian smiled wanly. "She threw a hot flat iron at me."

"And you were burned for weeks," Trudy piped up from beside the door.

"Ha, yeah," Fabian chuckled.

"But after a week-"

"And a bouquet of flowers," Fabian muttered.

"-you and her made up. You can get over anything, mate. Even a little break-up. Go ahead, sweep her off her feet," Mick encouraged.

"I-I want to. But I can't," Fabian sighed.

"Why not?" Trudy asked. We all glanced at her, seeing her biting her lip and wringing her hands as if watching a captivating drama. "Oh, sorry. I'll just be going to read in the kitchen now."

She sneaked out the door, but poked her head back out, saying, "If you need anything, I'll be in the, well, you know."

We grinned at her, waiting to here her steps walk into the kitchen. Then, we returned our looks to Fabian. "Fabian, why don't you want to go?" Amber asked.

"I just don't, alright?"

"No. It is not 'alright,' mister. Tell me or those science books are going to be gone in the morning," Amber threatened.

"Okay, okay. It was that kiss, from Nina," Fabian started. "When Alfie and Jerome pushed us together, and we kissed, it felt like sparks flew. More than with Joy. I mean, it was like she and I had known each other before, like we had had some connection, and that kiss made me have second thoughts about being with Joy."

"So, you like Nina, not Joy?" Amber said, slowly piecing things together.

Fabian sighed. "I know it doesn't make any sense, since I just met her and everything, but yeah. I do. It's like I knew her from another life or something."

"Or a memory," I murmured, beginning to feel guilty for erasing his memories.

He nodded. "Right. Like a memory."

"But how could you love _Nina_, a girl you met just three months ago, and not Joy, who you have known for almost three years?" Mick asked, still not getting it.

Amber rolled her eyes and groaned. She walked over to Mick, explaining things slowly to ensure that he understood what was going on. "How do you know all of this?" Mick said, looking at her warily.

"I speak the language of love, duh," Amber said.

"French?" he asked.

"No, boo. Just keep smiling and looking cute. Hey, do you wanna go back to the dance and tell everyone that we'll be there in a few minutes?" Amber said.

"Sure, babes. And I did want to tell them to play our favorite song." Amber grinned at him. He kissed her cheek and walked out. After hearing the door slam, Amber turned back to Fabian with total seriousness.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked.

"I really don't know. I don't want to hurt Joy, because I do care about her, just not in that way. I mean, at least not any more," he said. His words made me feel guiltier.

"So Nina's like your soulmate? Aww," Amber said. Another stab at my conscious that had been screaming at me to tell them.

"Yeah, I suppose. But I can't do that to Joy, she deserves better." Another hit at me.

"No, Fabian, you're being too guilty." Guilty? Had she really just said that? Thanks a bunch, Amber. "Joy is just being a bit of a drama queen right now. You're going through mixed feelings since Nina _is_ pretty and smart and sweet. But you have to see you're history with Joy! You can't break her heart-"

"Alright already! Stop with the guilt-tripping!" I shouted at them.

They both stared at me, confused. "What do you mean?" Fabian asked.

"With the soulmate and the sweetness and the everything! God, I know I did something wrong, but do you _have_ to be so annoying with the guilt-tripping!"

"What did you do?" Amber questioned.

"I gave Joy the locket!" I blurted.

"What do you mean? The locket was hers from the start," Fabian replied.

"No, no. I mean before. It was originally Nina's," I said.

"What?" Fabian and Amber said together.

"Will you two quit saying 'what'?" I yelled.

"Only if you tell us what is going on," Fabian said.

"Fine." I sighed. And I told them everything.

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><p>Yes! Action! Excitement! Drama! All of the things that made a story awesome has finally appeared!<p>

All of the dresses are now on my profile so if you wanna check them out, go ahead.

This is a lot longer than my normal chapters (almost 3,500 words total! O_O) but I did cut a few things that will be added next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this!

And to everyone who reviewed last time, thank you so much! You're all pretty awesome and nice. (: To everyone: please review!

~Ary


	18. The Final Showdown Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't House of Anubis! I don't own Odin House or any of its characters!

This chapter is dedicated to 2funE4U for being my 200th reviewer! Hope you enjoy this, and please let me know about any errors you find because I'm a nit-picky person who needs to have everything perfect. (: Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 18: The Final Showdown Part 2<p>

~Patricia's POV~

I told them how last term had been a sort of dream for them, not actual reality with Joy being the Chosen One and such. Nina was the real Chosen One and was trying to solve the mystery of what had happened this term.

Then I told them how Joy had been desperate to get anything that would regain her some attention again, anything that would work. She remembered a spell from when she was training to be the Chosen One, a spell for memory charms that would only work with "a tool dear to the gods," said her father. That tool was the Eye of Horus. So I had snuck down to Nina's room and grabbed the locket, really wanting my friend to be happy again.

Joy had grabbed something that reminded her of everyone in the house, leaving out me and herself, because I was going to keep the secret with her and she couldn't forget herself. She had muttered a spell, and a flash blinded us while we were whooshed back to that first day when Nina came, but . . . she never did. Joy was picked to be the Chosen One by Sarah, and had a few of the powers that Nina did, but had the knowledge from her Chosen One training to overcome the obstacles that she couldn't get over with her limited powers.

And now, Nina somehow come back to the school this year and she was meddling in Joy's perfect world and returning a lot of people's memories. That why Joy had been so angry at Nina from that day in the attic, she knew that something would trigger everyone's memories to come back a little because of Nina.

When I was finished with the story, Amber and Fabian's jaws hung open, aghast about the truth of it all. An awkward silence filled the room, and I twisted my black ring on my index finger as I waited for something to happen.

"You've got to be kidding," Amber said.

"No, I'm not. Do you believe me, Fabian?" I asked.

Fabian finally spoke, grabbing his jacket: "We need to get to that dance."

We ran out, Amber, however, rushed to her room to grab something that I saw her stuff in her purse. It was a flash of silver and brown, and I glanced at her. "You didn't get it, did you?"

She nodded, and I turned away, wondering why would she want to bring the Eye of Horus? Unless . . . I shook away the thoughts, just thinking that if she asked how to break the spell, I would tell her.

"So what are we gonna do when we get there?" I asked as we ran there.

"I- I don't really know," Fabian said.

"Well, how do we break the spell? I mean, we can't tell everyone, can we?" Amber pointed out.

"No, we can't. Or else we would be thought of as mad and taken to an asylum," I replied bluntly.

"Right," Amber said.

"Patricia, do you know how to break the memory charm?" Fabian asked.

I bit my lip, not want to betray Joy's secret. But Fabian caught my slip-up. "Patricia?" he asked.

"I- I really don't know how to break it-" I started. Amber stopped me and stared into my eyes. I pushed her away in surprise, and Amber remained calm and scrutinized me with her blue eyes.

"She's lying. I can tell," Amber said.

"So you _do_ know how to break it?" Fabian asked.

"Yes. And no," I said. "I made a promise to Joy, that I wouldn't tell her secret. I can't betray her."

"That true," Amber added. "The girl code is a strict thing to honor."

Fabian looked between the two of them, confused. "You already broke it, though, since you told us. So the secret's promise is already in-valid, you know, useless."

I glanced back and forth at nothing, trying to decide. Was he right-that my promise was already broken, so I had nothing to lose? But this was Joy, she upheld promises and would hate me if I betrayed her.

"I can't tell you," I said.

They sighed. "Patricia, _come_ on! My girlfriend is up there, probably getting eaten alive by those people!" Fabian cried.

"Joy will be fine," I said, dismissing him with a wave of my hand.

"I was talking about Nina," he added.

"Oh, right," Patricia said. "She'll be fine. She has that Michael kid with her."

Fabian nodded, not saying another word. We continued on, the school building coming nearer and nearer with each step. Even though I had borrowed a black sweater from Trudy, the wind seemed to blow right through me, and I turned into an icicle.

When they reached the door, Patricia threw it open and stepped into the warmth, sighing in relief. I rubbed my arms up and down, trying to gain some sort of warmth into my limbs.

"Let's head over to the dance. We need to finish this," Fabian said.

I followed him toward the multi-colored lights and blaring music from the room that held the dance, seeing a massive cluster of people dancing with no space to squeeze through. Did they seriously invite everyone in the entire school?

I spotted a black flower in dark brown hair dancing in the middle of the crowd, and I wove in and out of the mass of people to reach her. I grabbed her arm, searching for Amber and Fabian, but they had disappeared.

I swore under my breath, but led Joy to the sidelines, near the stage. "What are you doing?" Joy said, having to talk a lot louder because of the loud cacophony of music.

I opened and closed my mouth, losing my voice when I realized that I had to tell her that I told them. I pressed my lips together, not wanting to tell her now. If I was in her position, and I was betrayed, I would never talk to me again.

She smiled at me, bemused but still happy. "What is it, Patricia?"

"I told them!" I blurted out.

Joy's smiling face slowly formed into a hard shell of itself, looking like one of those smiling drama masks, and I slowly backed up, afraid she was going to throw a fit.

She blinked slowly, a plastic smile still on her face. "Um, what?" she asked, with a fake laugh.

"I- I told them about the locket and the memory spell and-" I said, stuttering as bad as Fabian usually did.

"You did what?" her voice was as icy as the night air outside. My heart leaped into my throat, and I tried to swallow back the shaking voice that was threatening to come out.

"I- You heard me." I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to return to my confident, sarcastic self. "You know what I did. And I thought they should know. Fabian is going to go tell Nina that he knows now, and this will all be over."

Joy's brown eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head to the side. "Since when were you such a hopeless romantic?"

"Since I've seen how much of a toll this has taken on you. You slapped Mara and got in a fight with Nina. You really need to relax because this has gone on long enough." I put a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eye. "You have to realize that it's over now."

Joy stepped away from me, her eyes blazing and looking angrier than every before. "No! I will not let her steal this away from me! I was here first. I was chosen for this task. I was supposed to be the Chosen One! This is my life, and I don't want her to steal anything away from me. Ever again."

Now, a crowd had formed around us, interested on what we were talking about. I shooed them all away, but not before Nina walked up on stage, with the Eye of Horus in hand.

She put her hand to the microphone, picking it up and putting it her close to her lips. Her eyes were hard and steely, looking really stern and angry, though she actually looked pretty glamorous in her white dress and crystal jewelry.

Nina said flatly, "Joy Mercer. Get up here, now. We need to finish this."

. . .

~Nina's POV~

Joy walked up in a tight black dress that looked strangely familiar. The straps with flowers, the low-cut neck-I knew exactly why it was familiar. That was the dress I had tried on at the boutique, the one I had tossed out because it was "too inappropriate for my style." It was easy to see that Joy liked to go for the night club look, and I wasn't surprised since she _was_ a slut.

"You called, Nina?" Joy said sweetly.

I clenched my fist that held the Eye of Horus, and I could feel warmth spreading through my hand. I looked her straight in the eye.

"We both know that this-" I shook the locket in my hand. "-is the reason that no one remembers me. Tell them all why it happened!"

"What ever are you talking about, Nina?" Joy asked innocently.

My mind raced to find some way to make her to tell the truth. I bit my lip, not finding any way to make her fess up, but Fabian covered it for me.

"Tell them what you did, Joy," he said, getting onto the stage.

"Fabes," Joy whispered. "What-What are you talking about?"

"Patricia told me everything," he said.

Joy turned to Patricia. "How could you?"

"Forget about Patricia. Tell them all what you did," Amber said, striding onto the stage beside Fabian.

"You can never make me tell anyone," Joy said casually. "Besides, why would anyone believe you? You sound crazy."

"Well, why would you want everyone to forget me?" I replied.

"Oh, you know why," Joy said.

"No, I don't. Enlighten me," I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Fine. You know what I'm sick of? You," Joy said, her voice growing louder with each sentence. "You replaced me. I was completely forgotten after a day with you: sweet, charming Nina. Smart, intelligent Nina that is one of the best of the class. Pretty, beautiful Nina that catches the attention of every freaking guy in the house! Nina, that stole my Fabian away from me! I'm tired of being second choice, of being left out of the picture! You will _never_ replace me again!"

I paused a moment before saying anything. "I would take pity on you, but that wouldn't fix anything, would it?" I said calmly.

"No, it wouldn't," Joy said through clenched teeth. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me from just erasing this night from everyone's minds at the end of the night. Go ahead and rant all you want about your problems, but, sweetie, you won't remember in the morning."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged.

"Yes," she said.

"There has to be some sort of way to stop you, I mean, these things aren't fool-proof," I stated.

"If there was a weakness, it would be something that would be unbearable to do. And it could be anything," Joy said.

"These things aren't completely set in stone. For instance, you were thought to be the Chosen One, but in reality: it was me. Nothing is for sure anymore. I _know_ there is a weakness."

"How would you know?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"I've talked to people. Listened to conversations."

"Nina! Smash the locket!" Patricia yelled.

"What? No, Patricia!" Joy exclaimed.

I gave one last look at this locket that had given me everything that I had ever enjoyed in England: a taste of adventure, being accepted into a group of friends that loved me, and even a bit of romance. I mouthed one last goodbye and an apology to Sarah for breaking the locket, then fisted it in my palm and threw it to the ground.

A brilliant flash occurred, blinding everyone in the room. I stumbled backwards, onto the ground, and when the light had dimmed, Michael rushed to me and helped me sit up. I smiled at him, nodding that I was okay. He squeezed my hand and I looked at the now-destroyed locket.

It had split in half, the red gem in the middle had shattered into a dozen pieces. There was no way it was fixable: it was really over now. The chain was mostly intact, the only part being broken was the area where the locket had been connected to.

When I glanced around, I saw that a bunch of people were looking around, confused, and that everyone from Anubis was on the ground, groaning and rubbing their eyes.

"Nina?" Fabian asked.

"Fabian," I said, running to him and forgetting Michael.

I hugged him tightly, running my fingers through his hair. Missing his usual presence around me, his smile when he saw me, the sparkle in his eye. His arms around me, I felt happier than I had in so long.

"Are you okay?" he asked in my ear.

"I- I'm fine. I'm just so glad you remember me," I said, gripping him tightly.

He pulled back to look at me and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. I just couldn't stop looking at him. He remembered, he really remembered now. I put a hand to his face, as if I wanted to make sure he was tangible and really there, or maybe I just didn't want his sparkling eyes to go away again.

"So what are we now?" Joy's voice popped my bubble of happiness. I dropped my hand to my side, turning to face her. She was staring at me with pure hatred, completely pissed off that I had broken the locket.

Fabian answered for me, "We're broken up, Joy. I can never really take you back after knowing what you did." Joy's eyes pooled with tears and she ran off. No one but Patricia ran after her.

"And what about us?" Michael asked from behind me.

I looked at him, seeing his sad brown eyes and disappointed face. He saw me run straight from him to Fabian, I had just forgotten him like he was a sack of dirt. That must have made him feel so bad.

I walked up to him, and I didn't even notice the crowd that had been watching this whole thing happening. I only had eyes for him, to say I was sorry for being such a horrible date.

"Michael, I- I'm sorry," I said. I tried to lock eyes with him, but he was averting my gaze like it hurt to look at me.

"It's okay," he mumbled.

"No, it's not. I broke your heart, and I feel terrible. I do love you, but I don't think you love me the same way," I said.

"I do. You know I do, Nina. That's why we went to the dance together," Michael said.

"No, you don't." I shook my head, smiling sadly. "Remember that scene when Tony asked if Charlotte wanted to kiss him? You tensed up as soon as he said that, so I knew you still had feelings for her. She still likes you, too." I locked eyes with a red-headed girl in the crowd, and we nodded to each other. "I want you to be truly happy with someone who really loves you. And I don't think that person is me."

He gave a small smile to me, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, giving him a long hug. When I pulled away, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I glanced quickly at the girl again, and Charlotte sadly smiled at me. I faced Michael again. "Go talk to Charlotte for me. Open up to her for me-love her again. Just do it, okay?"

He nodded, walking off of the stage with a last squeeze of my hand, to go find Charlotte. I spun on my heel to face Fabian, who gave me a shy grin. No, I didn't pick Fabian either.

The real answer? I didn't pick either of them: they both needed other people in their lives to make them happier. I wasn't going to be either of their girlfriends because I knew I wouldn't be able to go through it, knowing that another girl was sad because of my relationship with either of them.

I didn't return Fabian's smile, but walked forward and tangled my fingers in his hair. I said, "Fabian, I-I can't be with you. I want to, but-"

His smile turned uneasy. "Why can't you? Nina, it's been you all along that I've been in love with. Don't you love me, too?" Fabian asked.

"I know you love me, and I love you, too. But, one of the only reason Joy did this was to gain back her friends and you as a boyfriend. Please, just accept her for me. Don't push her away-she needs a friend."

"Bu- But no! Nina, I don't want you to leave me again. Please, no," Fabian pleaded.

"Please, do it for me, Fabian. Please. Go comfort her for me," I said. I planted one last, quick kiss on his lips, gave him a hug, and turned away from him, about to walk offstage.

"Nina-" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from walking offstage.

"No," I said, shrugging away his hand. "Please, just go." Tears threatened to fall down my eyes, and I walked away, through the crowd that had parted a path down the middle for me. I walked out the doors, away from the crowds of people to face the world again. Yes, I was alone; yes, I was dateless-but I still had my friends and the fact that I had forgiven Joy, and that wasn't on my conscious anymore.

Well, ready or not, world, here I come.

* * *

><p>Woo! Another 3,000+ chapter! 3,232 words, to be exact. Well, this is the last, legitimate chapter . . . Next, and last, is the epilogue. Which will be updated later tonight, er, today. It will be in before the Season 2 Premiere, don't worry, but . . . I'm literally just really sad that this is almost over.<p>

It's been a long time coming. And I mean a long time . . . as in since last March.

Yeah, no happy ending for Nina, I'm sorry! But in the epilogue, she does get her happily ever after. Don't worry! (: And there IS Fabina.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GETTING THE REVIEW NUMBER PAST 200! To all of you absolutely amazing readers and reviewers, you are all so incredible and I couldn't have asked for better people to write for. I'm really glad you picked this story to read, and sorry for all of the errors and such.

Please read and review! (:

~Ary


	19. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Anubis House and all of its characters do not belong to me, they belong to Nickelodeon and Studio 100. Odin House and all of its characters belong to Dante Alighieri1308.

By the way, this chapter is 2,507 words. Random fact, I know, but it's weird to think that this is the last time I'll be writing this note for Only A Dream?... I hope you enjoy, and there is some Fabina fluff, but not much, sorry.

* * *

><p>"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."<p>

-Langston Hughes

Epilogue: Returning Friends

~Nina's POV~

The rest of my time in England at boarding school, I stayed in Odin House, but I did visit Anubis House quite frequently and even slept over there a few times. I did regain my friendship with Charlotte, became closer with Sophia, and even Tori warmed up to me a bit after I had a sort-of heart-to-heart with her over the Tony issue. I never got to know Tony, no matter how many times he tried flirting with me because he knew I was single. Mitch actually came out of his dark, little turtle shell, cutting his hair a bit and talking to people a lot more; we actually became pretty good friends, reading books together when everyone else was out to town or just relaxing together and talking about music. I was still friends with Alan, he was like a brother to me: playing pranks and joking around with me, but still protecting me from annoying flirters in school and also comforting me when my gran called once, saying my cat had died.

What about Michael, you may ask? Well, we stayed close friends for the rest of my time at Odin, but like he had said with Charlotte, it was like there was an impenetrable wall between us so that we would never be really close again. He and Charlotte lasted through high school, only breaking up once over summer before our last year at school, but soon getting together again with the help of me and Tori.

Joy was ostracized at Anubis house for the longest time, like me during my first few weeks at Anubis. Even Patricia was giving her a wide berth, not really talking to her, but instead chatting with Alfie about aliens and such. But after about a month of a mopey Joy, I, of all people, went up to her and began to talk and hang out with her. And soon, everyone began to follow suit, hanging out with Joy and becoming friends with her again.

After school, I moved back to America to become a journalist, getting so into it that I did lose contact with a few friends from school. But since they never called me, it didn't seem like I needed to call them again.

The only two people I really stayed in contact with were Amber and Michael, who were both happy and in love. Amber and Mick had tied the knot, Mick having proposed to her a few months earlier, and now they were having a June wedding after Amber heard about them from an American movie. Michael stayed in England after school, and he and Charlotte were still going strong from high school. Michael himself told me that he would soon be proposing to her around late April. It was really great to hear that they were happy, but at times I missed them.

I walked to my desk drawer, pulled out an old leather-bound journal labeled "Nina's Diary," and opened up the cover, where my own handwriting said "11th Grade." I smiled at the memories, but then it disappeared as I reminisced on all of the drama that had happened that year.

Flipping through the pages, I saw all of the photos I had collected that year, full of photos of Odin House and Anubis House. Pictures of Michael, Charlotte, Alan . . . I smiled at each hilarious photo. But there was one, with my sixteen year old self and Fabian smiling back at me, and that made me remember what had happened between us.

I bit my lip, wondering what he was doing now, eight years later, after everything that had happened. Did he actually get together with Joy after high school like I asked him to? Had he just stayed friends with her?

I closed the journal, shaking my head. "Oh no," I muttered. "Not going to think about him again."

Ever since the entire thing had ended, I had told myself that I was not going to be focusing on dating. Until my career was set in stone and I had a good, balanced life, I was not going to add any more chaos to my life. I had already had enough drama to last me a lifetime.

A knock on my apartment door made me jump out of my thoughts. I glanced toward the door, wondering who on earth would be coming to me at seven at night. I stood up, peered through the peep hole, and saw a familiar red head. I gasped, unlocking the door, and saw a taller, older version of my old roommate. I hugged Charlotte around the waist before she could even reply.

"I can't believe you're here!" I squealed. I pulled away to look at her brown eyes that were full of excitement. Then something occurred to me. "Wait, why _are_ you here?"

She held out a hand with a grin, revealing a glittering diamond ring. We screamed together, so ecstatic that she was getting married. "When did he propose?" I asked. "Michael told me he was going to ask in April!"

"On Valentine's Day! Oh, it was so romantic. But he probably thought you would tell me, so he switched the dates!" Charlotte said. She gave me a sly grin. "And Nina, I have a question for you."

"Yeah?" I said.

"Would you be my maid of honor?" she asked.

"Of course! Oh my gosh, thank you! I definitely will!" I replied.

We continued to chat about the wedding, when it was, in late October, and who of our old friends would be invited. It was getting late, so I offered her a place to stay for the night. She accepted, but told me that she was going to be here all week. I hadn't seen her in so long, so it only made sense to let her stay over.

She showed me a photo of a peach dress, and I recalled that that was the one she wore to the Winter Formal all those years ago. She said that she loved the color, but not the style of the dress, so we spent the rest of the night contemplating the dress choices.

"You know, it's weird, though," Charlotte mused as I picked up another drawing of a dress' outline.

"What's weird?" I asked.

"All of those things that happened in school . . . they seem trivial now. It's kind of odd to think of myself in those situations now, it seems unreal that we went through that," she said.

My lips turned up in a smile. "Yeah. It was like a memory." I laughed at the word and all of the troubles that had come with it.

"Or a dream," Charlotte said.

"Yeah," I agreed, shrugging. "It was only a dream."*

. . .

The next day, I wanted to show her the sights of New York City, so we walked around, talking pictures and looking like idiotic tourists, even though I had lived here for almost eight years.

I was talking about where we would go next, perhaps Long Island to see the Atlantic Ocean up close, when suddenly I knocked into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Charlotte scolded.

He began to apologize, but something in his voice made me stop from walking off in a pissed off mood. I looked up, into sparkling blue eyes that I would recognize anywhere.

"Fabian?"

I barely heard myself utter the word, but it echoed around the inside of my skull. The name opened all of these drawers of memories that I had kept tightly sealed for the last eight years, unearthing good memories: shy looks, blushing faces, bashful smiles. But there were also the bad times, ergo, most of eleventh grade when he had been dating Joy.

"Um, yes. Do I know y-" he asked, but then met my eyes. His face formed a surprised expression. "Nina?"

I threw my arms around him in a hug, and he returned the hug and spun me around. But then we realized what we were doing and blushed scarlet, pulling away quickly.

"Uh, so . . . what are you doing here?" I asked.

Fabian was looking away from me, looking embarrassed. It was like we were in tenth grade again, the year we first met. It was like I was fifteen again, and I was a grown woman who should not be acting this way.

"I'm here visiting my younger sister who works here as a school teacher," Fabian said.

"Oh, cool," I replied.

I tried to say something else, anything else to move along the conversation, but my words were caught in my throat when I locked eyes with him again. _Damn that stupid crush_, I thought to myself.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, and Charlotte spoke up-I had completely forgotten she was there.

"Um, I'm going to go visit the zoo. Nina, I'll meet you back at the apartment, yeah?" Charlotte asked.

I nodded and glanced at her, trying to convey the message through my eyes: _What are you doing?_

She disregarded my look, passed Fabian a smile, and walked off. That left me and Fabian. Alone.

"So how have you been?" he asked.

"Good. You?" I replied.

"Good," he said.

We fell into silence once more. I dropped my hands from their crossed position to my sides, drumming my fingers against my jeans. This was just really awkward now. Why did he have to be here? Why?

Suddenly, I felt a hand slip into one of mine, and I jerked away. I looked up and saw Fabian's hand positioned in front of him, as if expecting me to hit him. Then, I realized that he had tried to take my hand, and I had responded a bit crazily.

"S-Sorry," I said. "I- I'm just not used to those sort of things anymore."

"It-It's fine," he stuttered. "It, it w-was too forward of me, anyway. I just, wanted to see where we were now."

I pressed my lips together, not sure what to say.

Sure, I had thought about what me and Fabian would have been by now if Joy had not done the memory charm thing, but it had always ended in a similar fashion: me going back to America, Fabian staying in England to pursue historical study or to research science.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just, need to get my life sorted out before I do any dating. I-I haven't been on a date in a while and I'm just not used to those sort of things."

"Right," he said. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't, I mean, I don't want to do anything you're uncomfortable with. I, uh, I think it would be best if I just go now." He began to walk off.

"No, don't go. I'm the one who should be apologizing," I said.

He turned to face me. "What do you have to apologize for? You're fine, Nina."

"I guess I just haven't had a boyfriend around for so long that I just wasn't used to it," I said. "And I want to. But . . ."

"But what?" he asked.

"What about Joy?" I said.

He made a face. "Oh, she ran off with Mick after our last year at school. Apparently they're married now, with a one-year-old baby, says Mick."

I gave him a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I thought you and her would get together."

"Ha, no. That probably wouldn't have happened anyway. I still loved someone else," he said.

Our gazes locked. "Who was she?" I asked quietly, though I already knew who he was talking about.

"The prettiest girl I had ever met; a sweet and compassionate person that had the kindness to forgive someone who had hurt her so much. She was from America, and had long, light brown hair and big hazel eyes. She was chosen for a nearly impossible task, going through a mystery that spanned centuries, and the leader of a club named Sibuna. The first day I met her, I knew that I loved her and could never love anyone else.

"I loved a girl named Nina Martin. And I'm still in love with her to this day." He looked down, turning red at realizing what he had just said.

I felt a smile growing on my face, and knew my face was beet red. I looked down at my shoes, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. Had he really just said that? It was, one, really romantic, and two, just completely shocking because no one had ever told me that before.

I put my hand in his, squeezing it gently. He looked up at me, hope shining in his eyes."I'm in love with Fabian Rutter. And I'm still in love with him to this day."

And I was in love with him still. No matter what I had said all those years ago, about him going to Joy and comforting her and loving her, I had still loved him. But, that famous quote had rung loud and clear in my head: "If you love something, let it go." And that had worked then, because it made everyone happy.

Now, however, Joy was married to Mick with a child; Michael was engaged to Charlotte and happily in love-so what was stopping me from dating Fabian? Everyone who would have been hurt by our relationship were already with someone else, so in a way, it was fair game to date him.

So, we walked to a cafe to catch up on the past eight years of our lives that we missed out on. And as we smiled and laughed together about the smallest things, I knew that everything in the future would be okay because we could get through anything as long as we were together. I mean, in tenth grade we faced a mystery and came out barely scathed, while ending the year with a kiss. Eleventh grade was hard, but at the end, we still loved each other, even though we didn't get together in the end.

Whatever happened now, I would be able to get through it with Fabian at my side.

* * *

><p>*: I love having the title included in the actual story, but I wish it was at the end. Oh well, <em>c'est la vie<em>.

Even though it's weird to end on nineteen chapters (eighteen legit ones, one epilogue) I'm still proud of this story. And honestly, this is probably one of my favorite chapters of the entire thing. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I did writing it.

...Wow, it's over. I have so many people I need to thank for reading this story and reviewing it. Just a few of these people are:

2funE4U  
>allyouneedislove1797<br>miyame-chan  
>TICKLES3000<br>scottskyhawks1999  
>smokepelt<br>Dante Alighieri1308  
>ral7224<br>pieface98  
>S.I.B.U.N.A.1398<br>MissFeltonFanatic

and this list will be going on forever. Basically, everyone in the reviews (except for "Sibuna" the anonymous review) I thank you. (: You are all so awesome and I can't believe you've stuck around with me for this long. Honestly, I'm probably not going to be writing another multi-chapter story for a while, because this was hard to finish and I'm terrible with time management, so it would probably take me five months to finish writing three chapters. (And that had happened, as you all know.)

Thank you so much for reading this story, and until I write something else (or update the other stories). I shall leave you with a quote that should sum up this story:

"Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there's a dream, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living."  
>-Anonymous<p>

And now I bid you adieu. Please review!

~Ary


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